Like Ramen: A Dating Story
by On Permanent Hiatus
Summary: Ino believes Sasuke's the only boy that any girl could want. Will dating other boys make her change her mind? Could she possibly change THEIR minds about her? Inox? every chapter. COMPLETED.
1. The Challenge

**Author's Note: Hey, all! Dunno where this came from... Read and Review, please **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I pwn him! **

One fine spring day in Konoha the rookie kunoichi sat on a couple of park benches, taking in the delicious bloosom-scented air and... discussing boys, like normal. Well, Hinata was blushing at some of their comments and keeping silent most of the time, but other than that... However, today's topic of conversation was different.

"Seriously, only Sasuke-kun is a desirable match around these parts— Well, when it comes to us 'Rookie Nine,'" Ino was sighing. Tenten cleared her throat audibly. "Oh, and Gai's team."

"You have a point there," Sakura agreed. "But I guess it's all just a matter of preferrence." Hinata's eyes brightened as she heard this. Maybe... maybe that meant she could open up to these girls, and not be ostracized for her taste.

"But come on, anyone who doesn't like Sasuke _has_ to have something wrong with them," Ino snorted, lying back and catching a petal absentmindedly. _Or... not_, Hinata sighed inwardly and went back to gazing at the sky.

"Ino, don't say that," Tenten spoke up. "I'm sure there are plenty of great guys."

"What, like Lee? Or Neji?" Ino shook her head. "Face it, he's the only one."

"I don't think that's fair. What do you think, Hinata?" Tenten turned to the shy girl foir a response.

"Wha... what do I think about...um, what?" She stammered uneasily.

"Y'know, about Sasuke being the only guy who's good enough around." _There's... there's Naruto-kun, though. But... him? Date?_ Hinata began to blush automatically.

"Um... Well..." She looked around at the eager stares of her peers, and probably would've passed out from the pressure if she hadn't been struck by inspiration.

"Well... Um, they're like ramen!" she declared suddenly.

"Ramen?" Everyone echoed, not liking the potential directions that comment could take.

"Erm, yes. Well... they— they may not seem appetizing at first, and you, um, may have your favorites, but you never know until you try them all which ones are really desirable and which ones aren't." She exhaled softly as the other girls began to nod as they caught on to the concept.

"That's it!" Tenten cried suddenly.

"What's 'it'?" Sakura asked curiously.

"A plan. Ino," said Tenten, turning to said girl and catching her off guard. "You said you don't think anyone's desirable, right? Not even giving them the benefit of the doubt?"

"Well, hey, I didn't mean it that way!" Ino tried too late. "I only meant that—"

"So I say we do Hinata's idea," Tenten continued, disregarding Ino's comments.

"My... my...?"

"What idea?" Sakura asked, leaning forward in eagerness.

"Ino," Tenten proclaimed, standing up. "I dare— No, I _challenge_ you to go out with everyone of the Rookie 9 guys!" Ino's jaw nearly hit the ground.

"What! That's not fair!" she whined. "Why me?"

"Are you gonna do it or not?" Tenten prodded.

"Um..."

"Come on, Ino. Aren't you supposed to be popular? This should be a breeze," Sakura teased.

"Well, I, uh... Yeah. Yeah it would be..."

"Well, in that case, let's make it extra challenging," the pink-haired girl smiled dangerously. "Let's throw in Tenten's team as well."

"Yeah, let's—" Tenten stopped midsentence. "Wait, what!"

"You heard me," Sakura said.

"On second thought maybe we shouldn't... "The bunned kunoichi added hopefully. "And what do you mean, 'extra challenging'?"

"Yeah," Ino agreed suddenly. "Let's call it off."

"Nope, the deal is set," Sakura smirked with inward glee. "Unless, of course, you're not woman enough to do it."

"Woman enough?" Ino spat, getting into competitive mode. "More woman than you. Okay, let's do this!"

"But wait," Tenten mused after a few seconds, "Doesn't that mean she'll get to date Sasuke?" Ino's eyes lit up, and Sakura's confident smile faded.

"YES!" Ino cheered, while at the same time Sakura wailed, "I forgot that!"

"Well, since he seems to be the 'prize' here, you have to date him last," Tenten suggested.

"Suits me," Ino cried in happiness. "The best for last, right?"

"Aw, man," Tenten and Sakura groaned in unison.

"At least she'll have to date Naruto, right?" Sakura offered brightly.

"Yeah," the older girl agreed.

_Naruto-kun_! _I... forgot about him_! Hinata suddenly became depressed. _Oh, well. It's... it's not like a _real_ date or anything..._

Of course, the rest of the day Ino was nothing but sunshine in the wake of her newfound and promising date. In fact, the next day she was bright and happy, too. That is... until Neji rang her doorbell.

**Heh heh, cliffy! Next chapter, Neji and Ino date! Don't miss it!**


	2. NejixIno

**Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I didn't think this fic would be that popular... Enough of me, on to Neji and Ino**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto... Sakura would be a man**

**Sakura: Why? OO**

**Me: Because then no one would pair you with Gaara or Sasuke or Naruto-kun ever again! Bwahahahahaha!**

**Sakura**: **Um... Considering the popularity of yaoi these days, wouldn't those pairings occur even MORE than usual?**

**Me:... Oh, shoot, you're right. D'oh!**

As Neji Hyuuga sat back in his chair, he nearly groaned aloud. All he had done was gone to the blonde girl's house in search of answers; he had no idea he would come out with a date. Well, that wasn't true. It had all started with that one phone call...

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"Hello?" Neji had answered the device groggily, sifting through his thick but now messy stream of dark hair.

"Hi, sorry to wake you. This is Tenten. May I please speak to Neji?" His teammate had asked sweetly.

"Tenten?" Through a mist of sleep he recognized the name and voice. "Why're you calling me at 7:35 A—?"

"NEJI!"

"Whoa!" Instantly he was awake, if not dead from the near heart attack.

"Good, I have your attention. I'm _calling_ this early so that Sakura and Ino don't call before me—Wait, they haven't, have they!" Neji gave her a weird look, but because she was not there he ended up looking weirdly at his dresser.

"Why would Sakura or Ino call me? And this early, at that?" He heard a sigh of relief from the other end.

"_Whew_! When they decided you were going to go first I figured I would _die_ from the shock! Ha ha. Well, now that I know they didn't call you..." She trailed off as if gathering her thoughts.

"Listen, Tenten, I'd love to talk on the phone with you this early and discuss other girls calling me, but I'd really like to go take a shower now that I'm up, maybe cook some breakfast, and do some train—"

"But... you can't cook," Tenten interrupted him."In fact, I distinctly recall you causing a small house fire when we tried to make omelettes at my house. Remember that? I had to stay over at Hinata's for a while until the renovations were done. And then you walked in on me when I was taking a shower, even though Hinata said that no one used that bathroom and— "

"Okay! I was going to eat cereal!" Neji sighed, agitated and embarrassed at the recollection. "Tenten, was there a point in you calling me or are we just going to recount all of my humiliating moments you've managed to witness thus far?"The line fell silent.

"Oh. Well, speaking of that, I just wanted to tell you that I'll string up your insides after I fill you with every possible weapon at my disposal, after which I'll light you on fire and throw your remains in a ditch if you go on the date, but I guess they haven't called you , so never—"

"Hold on, someone's beeping in," Neji interrupted. "Hello?"

"Hey! This is Sakura Haruno calling for Neji! Sorry to wake you, but—"

"You're kidding me." Neji slammed his head down, but the pillow cushioned the blow. "_Why_ are you calling me, Sakura? And hurry up, I've got Tenten on the other line."

"...oh." Sakura took a breath, and then launched back into her oh-so-cheery-at-sunrise mode. "Well, then I guess she got to you first, then! Pity, I didn't think Tenten cared that much! Well, you know what they say, 'Never know whatcha' got 'til it's gone!' But anyways, I just called to tell you to _ignore_ anything and everything that Tenten says and ask Ino out on a date. If you don't, not only will you be ruining the fun of the century, you'll be one less obstacle in Ino's way to my Sasuke-kun, and I don't care if you have a_ thousand_ ANBU, so help me I will BEAT YOU TO WITHIN AN INCH OF YOUR LIFE OR MORE IF YOU DO NOT ASK HER! So, um, you can get back to talking with Tenten, and have a nice day." Neji's mouth hanging open in shock even after Sakura had hung up.

"Hey, Tenten?" He managed after a few more moments of gawking.

"Yes?"

"I'll... I'll talk to you later."

"Okay! And remember what I said."

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Never in all his life had Neji felt so... so _scared. _He shivered. But... but this was extremely interesting. Why was he suddenly the center of so much attention? And then another thought occurred to him: why didn't he just ask Ino about this whole mixup? And that's where he had made his mistake. Who knew Sakura would be lying in waiting at Ino's house, ready to ambush him? And who knew that they would be able to coerce Hinata into not only _letting them into the house_, but_ preparing and serving lunch for their "date_!_" _Now he sat contemplating what the chances were that his name would be chosen from the "Who Gets To Date Ino Hat of Doom" in the first place. And how much Tenten really meant her death threat.

"Neji, aren't you going to eat anything?" Ino asked, breaking the silence.

"I kinda lost my appetite," he replied icily. Ino gave a frustrated groan.

"Please cooperate. If you don't, Sakura won't call this date legit, and if it's not legit, we'll have to do it over until it's legit, and then I won't be able to date Sasuke-kun, and then I'll get REALLY angry!"she finished, wailing.

"So like it or not, you're here for the next half hour and are _going_ to tell me something about yourself." Neji wasn't particularly surprised by Ino's boldness; he had heard things from Shikamaru concerning her many psycho moments.

"What do you want me to say?" Neji sighed at last. Ino blinked.

"You're seriously giving in? So easily?" She gave him a skeptical look as she waved her as yet unused chopsticks around. "Geez, Sakura said you'd probably give us the most trouble, seeing as thought Tenten got to you first—"

"Um, do you want some more water, Ino?" Hinata walked forward shyly, holding a pitcher of water.

"Yes, thank you, Hinata," the blonde girl smiled. As Hinata refilled her cup, she tried to ignore the patented Hyuuga Death Glare that emitted from Neji (which, despite numerous tries at perfecting, Hinata could never get down, and it normally ended up transforming into Puppy Dog eyes)

"Well... What kind of shampoo do you use?" Ino asked when Hinata had at last managed to scurry away. Neji banged his forehead on the table suddenly, making Ino jump.

"Why? Why does every girl have to ask me that? Is that every woman's wish? Yo know what I put in my hair?" He asked no one in particular.

"Well, yeah. It's so smooth and silky..." Ino tried.

"Really?" Neji looked up, brightening slightly. "I thought I was the only one who thought that..."

"No, no it really is. So, what do you use?"

Meanwhile...

"Agh! I can't take it anymore! I have to go see what they're talking about!" Tenten cried, scrabbling at the green camouflage of the bush conveniently located outside the window of where Neji and Ino were eating.

"Tenten, calm down," Sakura sighed.

"Yes, but—"

"But what?"

"But _Neji_!"

"Neji what?"

"ARGH! She's in his house! Eating food! DATING!" Tenten screamed.

"Tenten, why're you getting so worked up about this? If I recall correctly, you've been to his house and eaten food on numerous occasions, even when he told you to go home. And I believe that you stayed over at his house once, albeit you didn't sleep in the same—"

"CURSE YOUR INFORMATION NETWORK!" Tenten roared, and then took out a kunai knife. "I didn't think it would come down to this, but..."

"TENTEN! DON'T CUT YOURSELF!"Sakura yelled in sudden fear.

"What? No. I love shiny, pointy metallic objects. They calm me down. Although, my mom would kill me if she knew I was resorting to this. She's a psychiatrist." Sakura blinked.

"Wow, I didn't know your mom was a psychiatrist," she said, impressed. "I didn't even know you had a mom."

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Tenten smiled proudly. "Like I bet you didn't know that Neji and I use the same shampoo."

"Um... no, I really didn't," Sakura answered, slightly disturbed.

"Yeah, he came over once and used it. Hasn't stopped using the same type ever since." Sakura didn't dare ask why Neji had been taking a shower over at Tenten's in the first place, and instead elected to smile indulgently.

"That's awesome."

"I know..." Tenten got silent all of a sudden. "BUT NOW INO'S IN THERE WITH HIM! ARGH!"

"The kunai, Tenten! LOOK AT THE KUNAI!"

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"...And then she wouldn't let go, so of course I had no choice but to use the Gentle Fist on her, but I didn't _mean_ to grab her butt or anything... It just sort of... happened... "

"Ha ha. I understand. Shikamaru was manipulating his shadow this once? I got in the way, and... well, he kinda did the same thing." _Wow, I had know I idea we had so much in common_, thought Neji. _That's kind of... awkward. _

"So..."

"So...?"

"You realize you've been talking about Tenten this entire time." Ino smirked.

"What? No I haven't."

"Yes, you have."

"Okay, that's not fair. She's on my team."

"And so is Lee."

"Do you _really_ want me to tell you stories about Lee?" Neji pointed out.

"...oh."

"Yeah." Things got awkwardly silent. Someone could be heard scrubbing the dishes that Hinata had cleared fifteen minutes ago.

"Well," Ino got up, smiling. "I think that went well, don't you?"

"It was okay," Neji admitted with a shrug. "Not particularly good or bad."

"I'm flattered. We should do it some other time." Ino couldn't believe those words had just come out of her mouth.

"Sure," Neji shrugged again, not putting up any apparent resistance to the idea.

"Well, I'll be seeing you, then." Ino smiled, "Thanks for coming." Ino had almost reached the door when Neji blurted out, "Ah... Ino?"

"Yes, Neji?"

"Could you please undo the chakra ropes before you go?"

"Ah, right."

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"So... how was it?" Tenten asked nervously, bouncing on the Hyuuga genius' bed to get rid of excess energy.

"How was what?" He asked, not looking up from where he was folding his laundry (believe it or not, he doesn't like the way the maids do it. He's so OCD)

"You know what I'm talking about," Tenten said, a little frustrated. "You're... you're date with Ino."

"Oh, that." He opened a drawer and carefully placed a pile of unmentionables in it. "Well... It actually wasn't that bad."

"You opened up to her, I heard," Tenten muttered, almost bitterly.

"What _else _did you hear?"

"Well..." Tenten smiled at how Ino had described Neji's main topic of conversation. "Stuff. But that's not the point Did you... enjoy yourself?" Neji sighed and put down a shirt, turning to face the girl.

"I had an okay time. Ino's not so annoying when she's not yelling and throwing a tantrum. But..." The boy paused.

"But...?" Tenten prodded, her heartbeat getting faster.

"I did miss you. A little," Neji added. _And made me think that maybe we could try it some time_. _For real_.

"Neji! That's actually really sweet." Tenten stopped, and then narrowed her eyes.

"Neji?"

"Yes, Tenten?"

"Are you just saying that because I caught you using my shampoo again?"

"Ah..." _Busted_.

**Hee hee. Hope you liked that. It ended up being more NejiTen, but expect me to do that with couples I already like. Sorry. I didn't think Ino and Neji would really talk about anything interesting, did you? No cliffy this time— I want people to vote! So... review or send me a message about who you want Ino to date next (can't be Sasuke, though, 'cause he's last)**


	3. KibaxIno

**Author's Note: Where to start? I've got reviews in the teens! WOW! That's a whole lot more than zero! I would thank everyone individually, but no one has the attention span for that! Ha! Anyways, as you can see Kiba won out (I apologize to all the Rock Lee fans) Oddly enough, those are the two who I was trying to choose between! So… on with the show!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto… Yet. But your day is coming Kishimoto-sensei… It's coming… Watch for strange vehicles parked outside your home… Heh heh

Today was a new day! Kiba and Akamaru trained with renewed energy, attacking imaginary opponents from all directions, leaping and bounding! Hinata, too, was training fiercely, using her Byakugan to… fight imaginary opponents as well! Because it's not like they were going to fight each _other_. Today, anyways. As for Shino… he was employing himself in collecting bugs like normal because he didn't _need_ to train, and everyone else knew it, too.

"Whoa, Hinata, it's getting late! Didn't you say you had an appointment or something at noon?" Kiba wheezed, sweat dripping from his mass of brown hair unpleasantly onto Akamaru's fur.

"Oh, no!" Hinata cried in sudden horror. "You're right! I almost forgot I had to meet Ino and the girls… Um… Thank you, Kiba-kun." She smiled gratefully, turning to run to where she was supposed to meet the other kunoichi… and tripped, falling right on her face!

"Ahh!" she squealed in the cutest fashion so that you almost forgot she had just hurt herself, which was the case with Kiba. But not Shino. He was… looking at bugs.

"Hinata, are you all right?" Kiba asked as he snapped back to reality and helped the girl up. She leaned against his chest for support, and the minute she could stand again he was standing at least two feet from her.

_Whoa… I didn't realize Kiba-kun…didn't like to be touched so much_, Hinata thought in a not quite shocked manner. _Or maybe…maybe it's_ me! But she didn't have time to worry the matter.

"Yes, I'm…. I'm fine. Just a bit shaken up," she smiled, embarrassed. Then Kiba noticed it.

"Hinata, you forgot to shut off your Byakugan," he pointed out.

"Oh! So I did." She immediately did just that.

"Y'know, it's funny… when you're fighting with that thing you don't seem to get so…"

"Clumsy?" Hinata offered sheepishly. "Yeah… the whole 360 degrees thing… You have to… know what, um, mode you're in or else…" She brushed the dirt off her jacket.

"Huh…" Kiba remarked, because he should have known that and he was feeling guilty for _not_ knowing it.

"Well, I better be going…" Hinata spoke up. "Bye Shino-kun! Bye Akamaru-kun, Kiba-kun…" Akamaru barked his own good-byes as Hinata ran off. Kiba said nothing.

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"Okay, time to draw from the hat!" Sakura announced to the table in the quaint café they were all sitting in. "Hinata's turn!"

"What?" Hinata asked, surprised.

"Well, _yeah_. I drew last time, so now it's your turn!"

"Um… But I don't…"

"Oh, don't worry. We won't let anyone know," Tenten said, trying to ease her fears.

"Ah, okay then…" Hinata hesitated a fraction of a second, her hand lingering above the brim of the large and extremely tacky looking pink hat (the owner of which I will not disclose… All right, fine. Sakura. There, I said it) Then she dipped it in and fished out a slip of paper, dropping it quickly in front of Ino as if it were on fire. That is… once she read it.

"Whoa, don't have a heart attack!" The blonde girl laughed, picking up the folded paper gingerly before sighing and opening it. _And the winner is…_ Ino stopped mid-thought. _Huh_. _Interesting. Very interesting. _

"Let me _see_!" Sakura whined, reaching for the paper before Ino moved it out of her grasp. "Hey, that's not fair!"

"Exactly," Ino retorted.

"Oh, you two…" Tenten muttered.

"Don't worry, Hinata, he won't be mad at you," Ino said suddenly.

"Wha…?" How had she known?

"In fact, I won't tell him a thing, okay?"

"Um… okay." Hinata felt a little better.

"Who _is_ it?" Sakura groaned.

"You'll see," Ino replied, sticking out her tongue for emphasis.

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"That was awesome, Akamaru! See if you can do this one!" Ino glanced in the direction of Kiba, who seemed to be oblivious to anything she did. _Go figure_, she thought as a large, muscular nin dog eyed Akamaru's Frisbee.

"H–Hey! Get away from him!" Ino shooed it.

At first she hadn't been for the double date in any way; after all, the so-called most popular kunoichi did _not_ want it to seem like she couldn't handle dates on her own. But once Hinata had stepped forward with her reasoning from Kiba himself, and Sakura okay–ed it, well… Who was she to argue?

"Hey, Ino!" The said boy called suddenly, running up to the girl with Hinata shyly in toe. "Hinata just had a great idea…"

"Um, no… No, I… I didn't!" Hinata protested weakly in fear of the rejection of the idea.

"Anyways," Kiba smiled, playfully ignoring the abovementioned objections. "Why don't you use your Shintenshin no Jutsu to switch with one of the dogs and play with Akamaru for a little bit?"

"Excuse me?" Ino managed once she grasped the fact that both of them were, in fact, serious.

"Yeah! Come on…" Kiba pleaded rather comically. "All you have to do is switch places with one of the other… I mean, with one of the female dogs. Anyways, it would make someone _really_ happy…"

"I dunno…" Ino sighed at last. "What if I can't undo the jutsu? I've never tried animals before…"

"Oh, that's easy. Of course you could undo it! You would be speaking dog, but it still works––– Akamaru does jutsu all the time," he reminded her.

"Um…" Ino looked around for a dog whose owner appeared to temporarily be absent and spotted a gorgeous Irish setter. "Fine." She followed this statement up quickly with hand seals, and before activating the jutsu she added, "You guys better be right––– Shintenshin no jutsu!"

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"Whoa, what just happened!" Sakura exclaimed from where she was perched in the tree. "Isn't that Ino's Shintenshin no jutsu?"

"No way!" Tenten leaned over her shoulder to see around a pesky branch. "Wow, I didn't think Kiba was serious about what he told us…"

"Yeah, but… Isn't that really risky?"

"Dunno…"

"The dog park…" Neji sighed with obvious agitation suddenly. "It just had to be the dog park!" The two girls jumped at his sudden outburst.

"Well, you didn't have to _come,_ you know, Neji," Sakura pointed out.

"Yes, but do to the fact that Gai-sensei has conveniently shortened today's training and I have nothing else planned, I _am_ here." Tenten shook her head.

"You're just here because you like to laugh at people being tortured, aren't you?" Neji smirked slightly (not too much or his mask of normal calm would have been broken)

"Well, yes, there is that…" Neji agreed with a shrug, watching two very intimidating dogs battle it out over a chew toy in the mean time. He gazed for a second or two longer before finally nicknaming the winner "Branch-sama" and the loser "Main-san."

"Why are we spying on them again?" Tenten asked, although she very well knew the answer.

"Be_cause_! This is an awkward situation! Something's _bound_ to turn up, and it'll be funny! It always does, and I'm always there to witness it," Sakura boasted. "And I want that something wildly embarrassing to happen to Ino!"

"Oh, _really_?" Tenten asked in reference to Sakura's testimonial.

–––––––Meanwhile–––––––

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto laughed, almost crying as he rolled on the clinic floor and pointed at Sasuke, who did not seem amused.

"Shut _up_, Naruto," he hissed, glaring menacingly.

"No _way_! This is just too good!" Naruto guffawed obnoxiously.

"Sir, please hold _very_ still," the medic-nin advised. "You know, when I heard you two had been fighting, and then the little one over there went to attack you, you dodged, but ended up falling off a cliff, into thistles, got mauled by a bear, fell into a vat of rainbow hair-dye that makes your hair permanently frizzy and afro-like for three hours, _and_ got sat on by Rock-kun, I didn't believe it…" Everything was silent for a few seconds.

"BUT NOW SHE DOES!" Naruto pointed out and started laughing again. "I wish I had a camera!"

"Naruto, I'm gonna kill you!"

"If only Sakura-chan were here!" the blonde boy reflected. "Wait–– Did you call me the 'little one!'"

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"Yeah, anything that's embarrassing that happens to someone I know, I'll see," Sakura finished with a shrug. "It's a talent."

"For some reason I doubt that," Neji commented.

"Oh, and why's that?" He pointed down to the mass chaos, or rather, remnants of mass chaos. Sakura paused.

"I _missed_ it!" She screamed.

"Yeah," Tenten answered, even though the question wasn't _really_ supposed to be responded to. However, twenty or so minutes before everyone in the tree got distracted…

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Everything was black, and then slowly it got fuzzy, then clear. That was when she noticed it––– everything was _taller_. And all around bigger and scarier.

"What the–––?" Ino began but was caught off guard by Kiba nearly stepping on her. "KIBA! LOOK OUT!" The boy looked down suddenly at hearing his name, blinked, and then a smile began to tug at his lips.

"Um… Ino?" He asked, trying hard to get words out.

"Duh, who do you _think_ it is?" Ino growled, literally.

"Oh, Kiba-kun, have you found her yet?" Hinata asked, running up to the boy breathlessly and trying not to slosh water from the bowl she carried. Kiba simply pointed down, still controlling his snigger but just barely. Hinata almost dropped the bowl of water.

"I–Ino-san!" Hinata cried in shock.

"Okay, _what_ is with you guys! You're the ones who told me to do the jutsu!" She yipped.

"Yeah, but we thought you were going to do it…" Kiba stopped, looked at a confused Hinata, and added, "See for yourself." He carefully took the bowl form his teammate and set it down for Ino to see into… and what she saw took ten years or so off her life.

"OH MY KAMI-SAMA!" she shrieked, panicking. "I'M A STINKIN' CHIHUAHUA! A _CHIHUAHUA_! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!" Kiba couldn't hold it anymore–– he burst into laughter. Hinata herself began to giggle furiously, but not for the same reasons… Can you imagine a Chihuahua running around and shrieking, trying to walk on its hind legs? Yeah, thought so…

"I aimed for the Irish setter! I _did_!" Ino said, stopping suddenly. "Kiba, Hinata, you saw me!"

"Yeah, we saw you," Kiba agreed, wiping a tear from his eyes. "But I guess she got in the way–– I mean, you got in the way–– I mean…Err…"

"What's going on?" Hinata asked, confused.

"I'm a _Chihuahua_!" Ino roared at the poor girl, who just stared at her as if trying to concentrate on her words.

"She's freaking out because she's a Chihuahua," Kiba translated helpfully. _Oh, that's right. Other people can't understand me now_… Ino thought. Just then a ball of white fur came barreling across the park.

"I heard the commotion! Momo-san, are you okay?" An adorable voice asked in the most precious tone of curiosity imaginable. "Kiba, what happened? Where's…" Akamaru skidded to a stop in front of Ino, and stared at her hard for a second. Then without warning he trotted behind her, and began to sniff her–––

"ACK! What are you doing!" Ino squealed, plopping down immediately and almost sitting on poor Akamaru's nose, then turning around abruptly. The dog growled viciously all of a sudden.

"I don't know who you are, but you're _not_ Momo-san! What jutsu is this?" he spat.

"Whoa, buddy calm down," Kiba laughed. "It's, uh… Shintenshin no jutsu."

"Shintenshin?" Akamaru repeated. "Then that means…" His eyes sparkled. "INO-CHAN!"

"WAH!" Ino cried while being sent backwards by the fluffy bulk as he tackled her.

"Wow, this is so cool! So… can you walk all right? Can you pant? Are you doing okay?" So many questions made Ino dizzy.

"Y–yes, b–but… But what was with that… that _smelling_ thing!" She managed. Kiba laughed immediately and Akamaru, if at all possible for a dog, blushed slightly.

"Erm… Well, if I had known…" he began. "I guess you really aren't used to it…"

"No, I'm not," Ino said bluntly.

"That's how dogs get to know each other–– by scent," Kiba explained. "And it just so happens that the most information can be gained via a gland located–––"

"I get it!" Ino interrupted hurriedly. "That's all I need to know!"

"Geez, Ino, calm down. It's only natural," Kiba said.

"Yeah? Well, why don't _you_ do it to Hinata?" Ino asked pointedly. Instantly Kiba turned red.

"Th–– that's not the same thing and you know it, Ino! Leave Hinata out of this!" He yelled, quite flustered. And it didn't help the situation out at all when Hinata asked in a way that rivaled Akamaru's in cuteness _why_ her name had been mentioned and if she had done anything wrong.

"No! N… no." Kiba glared at Ino for a second, and then looked at Akamaru. "Well, Ino's got half an hour or so of chakra, seeing as though she's not using it for anything else–––" Ino growled in her Chihuahua way. "–––Well, I _meant_ fighting or something. So… you guys go play. Akamaru, show her how to have fun like a canine." And with a wink Kiba turned around and began… doing whatever he and Hinata had been doing previous to the switch.

"Fun like a canine, huh?" Ino repeated, doubtful. "Well, Akamaru?" The little dog's eyes practically shone with a radiance all their own.

"Oh, oh! There's fetch…. And chew toys… and the obstacle course… and… um…" he trailed off, at a loss as to what would be fun for someone _new_ to the easily amused world of dogs. "OH! And I have… this awesome place I could show you…"

"Awesome place?" Ino was beginning to act less like a Chihuahua and more like a parrot. Before she could ask more Akamaru had run off like lightning. _Well_, _I've got time, I suppose_, she reasoned inwardly. She just wondered how well she would be able to handle being a dog.

**What's this awesome place that Akamaru is taking Ino to! Okay, not much of a cliffy there, so let me say… next chapter one of our kunoichi gets a confession of love! Who will it be, and from _whom_ will it come! I would love to hear your guesses, but you'll have to wait until next time to find out! Ciao!**


	4. AkamaruxIno

**Author's Note: Geez, I wasn't gone that long… Long story short, I was pestered to the point where I finally updated. That, and… I don't have a good excuse anymore not to. Oh, and one thing I suppose I must answer: The LEE question. _Yes_, I will get to him eventually. I am the Author Ruler Goddess Fairy Lady Queen of Death, and I say I will kill Lee off if I hear another peep about him! No, I'm just kidding… But seriously, I'll get there… Anywho, enjoy the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, the show would branch off into _another_ wildly successful show entitled "The Adventures of Team 8" Or… something not quite so dorky sounding.**

**Kiba: **YEAH! Our own show! WHOOT!

**Hinata: **Um… that's so nice… Thank you bow

**Shino: **…even if you owned Naruto I don't think you could control the popularity of the show

**Me: **Anyways, enough with your taking up space! On with the show!

"Um, Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked as she tossed the bright red ball as far as she could so that Kiba could go and chase it like the easily amused kid we know he is. "Where did Akamaru-kun and Ino-san go?" Kiba blinked as caught the ball, looked around the dog park, and then looked back at Hinata.

"Uh…?"

"Oh, I hope they're okay!" Hinata said nervously, fumbling with her fingers. "I don't know… know _what_ I'd do if Ino got hurt because of my suggestion." Hinata seriously looked as if she were about to break down into tears at this point. But that's what happens when you've been constantly harassed all your life for your inferiority.

"No, I'm sue they're just _fine_!" Kiba grinned suddenly, placing his hands tenderly on Hinata's shoulders. She looked up.

"R–really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah. If anyone's in trouble it's Akamaru," Kiba chuckled, then immediately dropped his hands to his side. "Um, anyways, Hinata…" Kiba trailed off, glancing around nervously.

"Yes, Kiba-kun?"

"Um, nothing," he said quickly. Hinata looked confused for a second, but dismissed it. _Dangit, and I was almost gonna say something_! Kiba chastised himself. _In a few minutes. Yeah. I'll say it then_.

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"Go fish," Sakura said, followed by Neji reaching for the deck and glaring at her.

"Liar," he growled under his breath, which wasn't really because Neji's _way_ too cool to have tact like that. At least, he thinks so.

"Neji, don't play if every time someone tells you to 'go fish' you're going to accuse them of cheating!" Tenten sighed in agitation, gripping her cards and frowning at her teammate.

"She _is_ cheating!" Neji cried in his defense. "I can see _two _queens right in her hand!" Sakura gasped and covered up her cards protectively, as if _that_ would help, seeing as though Neji had already seen her cards. But that's just something Sakura would do, so smile and nod.

"Neji!" Tenten shouted angrily. "I _thought_ I saw your Byakugan, you cheater!"

"Wait, _I'm_ the cheater?" Neji asked suddenly. If _you_ thought you were a genius and the best person in the world and hated most people I'm sure _you_ wouldn't like being called a cheater very much either. Even if you were. But that's beside the point.

"_Yes, _you're a cheater! What'd you think I'd say! 'Oh, good job Neji, thanks for defeating the point of the game!'"

"…so? I figured I would've won _anyways_. In fact, you should be _thanking_ me for expediting the process!" Neji growled, crossing his arms and glaring at a tree branch.

"Oh, so now you're gonna blame this on me?"

"I didn't say that, but yes, I guess I am."

"URGH!" Tenten cried, slamming her cards down and standing up abruptly. "You are _so selfish_!"

"Tenten, maybe you should just calm–––" Sakura began nervously.

"You stay out of this!" Tenten yelled fiercely, then caught herself.

"I… I need some time to myself, she muttered, leaping from the tree and landing firmly on the ground below. "Away from _him_."

"What?" Neji asked as Sakura glowered at him.

"Way to handle _that_, Neji," she said in a snotty tone that makes you want to kill that person for being right.

"What, you think that it's _my_ fault?" The boy replied with a frown.

"Um, yeah. You kind of just yelled at Tenten, you know," Sakura stated, putting away the cards into one of her convenient ninja pouches.

"Your point being?" he asked flatly. After a few moments the duo realized Tenten was not coming back. With a groan Neji jumped down from the tree and landed smoothly.

"Wait, where are you going?" Sakura inquired, suddenly recognizing that she would be left alone, even though that was the typical state she was in.

"Where do you think?" he answered grumpily, and took off running. Sakura watched for a few seconds, shrugged, and then took the cards out again for an all-too-familiar game of Solitaire.

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"I wonder where Ino's gone off to these days…" Shikamaru remarked randomly as he and Chouji waited for their food at the International House of Ramen.

"Now that you mention it…" Chouji stated, having been oblivious to this fact as nothing but Shikamaru's sudden ample amount of company had occupied his attention.

"Well, whatever. That's great for us," Shikamaru shrugged. _"Us?" Does that mean… _ Chouji smiled happily to himself.

"Chouji, why are you so cheery all of a sudden?" Shikamaru asked as he went back to looking over the menu.

"Um… Just… being here with you," the rotund boy grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah… Well, come to think of it, it _is_ pretty strange that that ramen shack is still standing when this place is around," Shikamaru replied.

"You're right! Gee, Shikamaru, you always have such valid points," Chouji said with a sigh. "But I guess it's because… Well, IHOR is so far away from Konoha and located so randomly in the middle of the woods that no one would really want to come all the way out here." They were both silent for a moment.

"Chouji, I'm extremely lazy and you're, no offense, not exactly in shape. How precisely did _either_ of us get here?"

"I… don't know," the kage nin's friend admitted. "Um, but anyways… I… kind of have something important to tell you." _While he's in a good mood and it's just the two of us, I need to tell him…_

"Hn?" Shikamaru asked, opening one eye lazily as he had already begun to drift asleep.

"Um… I… I–––"

" Welcome to IHOR!" The waitress stopped, shuddering at that awful name and then continued cheerily. "What'll it be, gentlemen?"

"After this, Chouji," Shikamaru said before ordering. Chouji only hoped that his courage would last that long.

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"Wow, this is beautiful!" Ino explained as she frolicked among the tall stems of various flowers. "I've never seen this field before!"

"Well, Kiba and I kinda found it by accident…" Akamaru said in a tone indicating there was probably a lengthy and interesting story to go with that statement. "But you run a flower shop, right? Kiba bought a rose for Hinata there once. Um, anyways, I figured you'd really like it."

"Like it?" Ino repeated, as she had done a lot during this date. "I love it! You can't even find some of these flowers anymore! Sales will boom!" She turned and smiled at him, but then it faded. "Hey… what's the matter?"

"What? Nothing," the puppy replied quickly.

"Yeah, there is. I can see it on your face," Ino insisted. Akamaru sighed and sat down, scratching behind his ear with his foot momentarily.

"I… Well, I guess Kiba told you about the switch, right?" He coughed. "Oh, duh, he'd have to have told you about it… Did he tell you why?" Ino stared at the white fluffball from where she had been rolling amongst some dark blue flowers, embarrassingly enough.

"Oh, yeah, that," Ino acknowledged, getting up and coming over to her companion. "I heard. He made up some story but we both know the real reason."

"We do?" Akamaru said, gulping slightly.

"Yeah, Kiba just wanted to go on a date with Hinata but didn't want to make it awkward. It's _so_ obvious, the way he fawns over her and stuff," Ino said with a hint of, perhaps, jealousy in her voice.

"Um… Not exactly," Akamaru said, clearing his throat. Then he paused. "Well, yeah, that _is_ true… But not really!"

"Akamaru, is there something you're trying to tell me?" Ino said, using her suddenly strengthened ninja senses… and canine senses.

"Um… Well, yes!" He said finally. "Ino-chan, it's really important…"

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"SASUKEEEEEE!" Lee cried as he came barreling down the road at super speed, because in truth that's not at all an exaggeration. _Kami-sama_!_ Iruka _just_ distracted Naruto enough so that I could get away–– now I have to face the guy who sat on me_!

"What do you _want_, Lee?" Sasuke growled, but the normal scariness was devastated in the first few seconds by his new afro going _boing_!

"Sasuke Uchiha! It has come to my attention that with a fiery passion my heart has been claimed by–––!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What does that have to do with me?" Sasuke asked, a little creeped out more than usual. "I already know you like Sakura."

"Sakura! YES! I LOVE HER WITH A BURNING PASSION THAT NOT EVEN MY YOUTH CAN COME UP WITH WORD FOR! AN INTENSITY THAT–––!"

"Lee, just shut up and tell me what you came to tell me," Sasuke demanded.

"Oh. Well, then! To the point as always my youthful, if not grumpy, comrade! It has come to my keen ninja senses that a new love has been born in my heart. A small one, no doubt, but one that burns like a million suns!"

"Lee, what does this have to do with me?" Sasuke asked tiredly, not even bothering at this point.

"Well, I'm glad you asked! It just so happens that I, with a passion unmatched by any other, love–––!"

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"Kiba-kun, are you feeling all right? You seem… jittery," Hinata asked as they walked back to the dog park carting their fruit smoothie. Yes, singular, because Kiba didn't have enough money for more than one large one _supposedly_, but you know he just wanted to share one with Hinata.

"R-really? You think I… um… Hey, is that a squirrel?" He said, pointing in a random direction.

"Um, Kiba? That's a Dalmatian…"

"Ah, silly me!" he said.

"But Kiba-kun…"

"Yes, Hinata?"

"Are you sure you're all right? I've got some medicine that… conveniently treats all injuries… even though I'm nothing near a medic nin… But still, if you want we can leave and–––"

"OKAY!" Kiba yelled finally, scaring the bejeebers out of Hinata, who went "Eeep!"

"I'll tell you!" He said in an agonized tone of voice.

"T-tell me what?" Hinata asked nervously, clenching the drink.

"Hinata, please don't get mad at me when I say this, _please_," Kiba begged, looking extremely emotional. "I… I…"

"Y-y-you?" Hinata prodded, her heartbeat getting faster and faster.

"I… can see your underwear!" he said at last, turning away and blushing fiercely. Hinata blinked a second.

"Um…" she looked around. "Is that… it?"

"YES!" Kiba cried. "I'm SO SORRY!"

"Oh. Well, it's fine… Kiba-kun. No need to beat yourself up over it…" Hinata stated as she gingerly pulled her jacket down in the back. "Thank you for telling me, though."

"You're… not mad?" the boy asked hesitantly.

"Not in any way," Hinata said, drinking from the smoothie and handing it to Kiba. "I'm glad that we're friends enough… to be able to tell each other things like that."

"Right, friends," Kiba said, taking the drink and enjoying the icy goodness. …Until Hinata piped up again.

"Ah, Kiba-kun?"

"Yes?"

"That's my straw. The blue one's yours…" Kiba turned and looked at the smoothie, back at Hinata, blushed, and then handed it back.

"S-sorry!" he said quickly, but you _know_ his inner alarm was beeping "Indirect kiss! Indirect kiss!" Hinata, however, remained oblivious.

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"Tenten! Tenten, stop already!" Neji sighed as he ran up to the bunned kunoichi who was currently employed in filling a target with kunai. "Okay, I know you're mad at me…"

"With good reason!" Tenten snapped, hitting the bulls-eye again. And again. And again.

"Do you really have to do that?"

"Do what? Try to get rid of my anger productively instead of yelling at people and not admitting to doing something wrong _yet again_? Is that what you mean?"

"You're making this very vexing for both of us…" Neji stated, rubbing his temples.

"Oh, _I'm_ making this difficult? Well, there you go, Neji. Let's just blame me. Again. For everything. Because Heavenly Spin forbid, Neji, that _you_ be at the fault of anything!" Tenten growled, taking a moment to rest from throwing weapons.

"When did I–––?" He began and then stopped. "Fine."

"Fine what?"

"Maybe… I was being a little of a jerk. Again…." He said slowly.

"What?" Tenten paused suddenly, a little surprised.

"I said… I was being a jerk, maybe."

"Neji, are you…?" _Trying to apologize to me_?

"Anyways, I… Let's get back. Aren't you supposed to be spying with Sakura?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Tenten said, smiling. "And, um… I forgive you." Amazing how a simple apology can make some people melt…

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"Shikamaru, I can't stand it any more!" Chouji cried at the top of his lungs as he slammed his hands down on the table, making his companion and everybody else in the restaurant jump. "I have to tell you!"

"Um… that's nice, Chouji, but could you tell me a little more quietly?"

"…oh. Okay," the Akimichi boy replied, sitting again.

"Is this the thing you were going to tell me before the food came?" Shikamaru asked, noting the various empty bowls that surrounded his friend.

"Yes. It is. Shikamaru, I…" Chouji took a deep breath, closed his eyes, opened them again, and stared right at Shikamaru's face. "I… love… deer."

"What?" Shikamaru said, blinking.

"I know. I recently stared eating a lot of it and… and I didn't tell you because I know 'deer' is in your name and I thought you'd be offended." Shikamaru shook his head.

"Chouji, the reason 'deer' is in my name is because my family are deer herders… As in, we eat deer, too?" A little lightbulb went off in Chouji's head.

"_Oh_… That makes sense!" Chouji replied cheerily. "I feel better now…"

"At least one of us does…" Shikamaru sighed to himself.

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"Are you serious!" Ino asked, putting a paw to her mouth. "I thought that Kiba invented that so that he could get time with Hinata!"

"Um… no, it's true…" Akamaru admitted shyly.

"Wow…" was all Ino could answer. "Wow…"

"Well, I know it'd never work put and stuff, but I was hoping… you know, for one day… we could hang out…"

"Akamaru?" Ino asked as he started trotting away to the dog park again.

"Yes?" he said, stopping, still embarrassed.

"Thank you," Ino smiled, and gave him a quick lick on the cheek.

"Ah… What was…?" Akamaru tried, his fur becoming the shade of his name.

"Shh!" Ino commanded, running up ahead. "Come on, let's go back and see what everyone else is up to… My chakra's almost run out…"

"Um…" Akamaru smiled giddily to himself and chased after her. "Right. Ino-chan!"

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"Lee, get _away_ from me, you freak!" Sasuke cried, dashing at a mad speed around Konoha.

"But I _love_ your new hairstyle with fierce passion! All you have to do is tell me how you have achieved such a wonder and let me touch it, and then I shall depart!" Lee reasoned, skipping after Sasuke just fast enough so that Sasuke had a little distance between them.

"You will _not_ touch my hair!" The Uchiha boy growled, rounding the corner into a… "Dog park!"

Meanwhile, Neji and Tenten were back up in the tree, and Ino and Akamaru had just returned.

"Ah, it's good to be back in my own body!" Ino was proclaiming when Sasuke ran into her, causing her to be thrown across the park into a tree… but not the same one as Sakura, Neji, and Tenten. Then _Lee_ came barreling into the dog park, and ran into Kiba, who was tossed into Hinata, both of which ended up in a pretty awkward position… _Then_ Lee continued to run after Sasuke, who, after dodging so many canines, tripped over Momo the Chihuahua, and went careening into a convenient mud puddle, where Lee found him and managed to touch his hair. All this went unobserved by our Trio in the Tree until Neji pointed it out, much to Sakura's despair.

After Ino was taken to the hospital to get her injuries treated, after Sasuke and Lee finally came to an understanding that involved Sasuke kicking Lee's butt in a battle, _and_ after Hinata and Kiba managed to get things cleared up on their end, all was well. Until… it came to drawing from the hat again, that is!

**Whew! What a long chapter! Well, I worked hard on it this time around because it took me a little while to update. Yes, Lee did appear in this one! Yay for you guys! Oh, and in case you're wondering why Shikamaru and Chouji randomly showed up, it's because of a certain random review I received… but nevermind that. See you next time! -wave-**


	5. ShikamaruxIno

**Author's Note: WOW! I cleared 1000 hits! That's so awesome! Now… if only I could figure out which one of you kept reading my story 900 times… Anywho… AGH! So many typos last chapter–– I'm surprised anyone could read that! This time I'll try a little harder to edit it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own Naruto. If I did… Tenten would have a last name. **

**Tenten: **Oh, that's real nice…

"Ah, Sasuke. So I heard about your hair…" Kakashi said after being yelled at by Naruto and Sakura for being late. "I must admit I'm a bit puzzled at how you got mauled by a bear, though. And sat on by–––"

"Can everyone just leave it alone?" Sasuke growled, crossing his arms and pouting.

"Yeah, as if that'll ever happen, Sasuke-baka," Naruto giggled behind his hand, "Or should I say… Sasuke-afro?"

"That's it!" Sasuke yelled, switching on his Sharingan and was about to tear Naruto apart… again, if it hadn't been for some intervention.

"So, where have you been lately, Sakura?" Her teacher asked as he held Sasuke back by pushing his forehead with two of his fingers.

"Ah, well–– I should ask the same thing of you, Sensei!" she pointed out perkily, a little worried as Sasuke swung his arms uselessly against the awesome power that was and still is Kakashi.

"Well, that's an interesting thing… It appears recently Kurenai––you know, Team 8's teacher?–– got dared to date several Jounin. Needless to say, Asuma, Gai, and myself came along for the ride."

"You mean you spied on her?" Naruto asked stupidly.

"Yes, Naruto, I spied on her," his teacher answered without a trace of guilt in his voice.

"That's some dedication," Sasuke muttered as he grumpily backed away.

"Well, it wasn't necessarily my idea. You see, Asuma said something about–––"

"Yo, Sakura!" Tenten called suddenly, coming out of nowhere and running up to the bridge everyone happened to be standing on.

_"Yo"_? Thought Team 7.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but, uh… We got a certain at-hay we gotta ick-pay out of-ay." They stared at her.

"Please, Tenten, like everyone doesn't know Pig Latin? We all learned that in third grade," Sakura reasoned.

"What the heck is she talking about, 'at-hay'?" Naruto exclaimed, frustrated.

"Anyway, you coming or not?" The weapon specialist inquired, placing her hands on her hips.

"Um, sorry, Kakashi-sensei. It appears something came up. Is it okay if I skip training today?" Sakura asked in the sweetest tone she could muster.

"Ah, that's okay. I just gathered you guys to tell you that you have another week off," the Jounin announced, waving his hand in dismissal.

"YEAH! FREE WEEK!" Naruto cried overenthusiastically.

"Sometimes I get the feeling the whole world is full of idiots," Sasuke sighed to himself.

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"This just isn't right…" Ino sighed, letting the piece of paper drift from her hand onto the table of the same café they always met in.

"The dare says every guy, Ino," Sakura smirked.

"Yeah, but–– He's my _teammate_ for crying out loud!"

"All the more reason you guys should feel comfortable doing this," Tenten pointed out.

"I don't see you and Lee exactly holding hands, Tenten," Ino grumbled.

"Lee is a freak of nature. I mean, he's nice, but no. Not. Ever," she said, emphasizing her words by shaking her iced coffee.

"Anyways, _this_ time around you have to actually date. I've been letting you slide the last couple of times, but we may have to repeat if it's not legit," Sakura warned, sounding like quite the strict principal.

"Um, newsflash, Forehead–– We're all twelve-years-old." Tenten cleared her throat. "Except Gai's team, who're thirteen. What're we going to 'go out' and do?"

"Wow, that's a surprisingly realistic approach to dating for a popular girl," Tenten commented. Hinata, in the mean time, continued to stir her tea. She had yet to figure out why she was still participating… Oh, wait. The whole thing had started from her ramen comment. Well, there you go.

"Leave my forehead _out_ of this!" Sakura insisted, uselessly covering it up with her hands.

"You treat it like a separate entity…" Tenten muttered with a raised eyebrow before turning back to Ino. "Okay, look. Why don't you guys do lunch and a movie?"

"Hey, that's actually a really good idea," Ino agreed. "That way it's not like he's really required to _do_ anything."

"Yeah, it's not as if that's _the whole point_ of the date, or anything," Sakura replied sarcastically, having finished hiding her forehead.

"Sakura?" Ino asked as she went to get up and dispose of her garbage.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

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"You know, when you said date…" Shikamaru stated, nodding to the group behind their booth, "I figured you meant… just us."

"Are you kidding? Free food!" Kiba yelled.

"I'm really sorry, Shikamaru… Sakura said she'd be somewhere to keep tabs and make sure everything was 'legit' this time, and then…" Ino shrugged helplessly.

"You're just lucky the deer business has been picking up, thanks to luck and certain Akimichis…" Shikamaru said as he stared at the grill, because they were all at the restaurant that Asuma's team happens to frequent _so much_.

"I'm actually surprised that you agreed to all this," Ino commented after the waiter, who knew them well, took their orders. "You know, troublesome and all…" Shikamaru nodded.

"Well, despite my obvious lack of enthusiasm for the entire concept, I do express a certain mature interest in starting a family one day," he answered. "And considering your social status, the fact that you were one of the top kunoichi in our class, and overall outward appearance, not to mention that we're on the same team, I figure you're as good a candidate as any." It took Ino a minute to process everything.

"So… let me get this straight. You just said you'd actually like to start a family one day and… you complimented me?"

"Pretty much," her companion acknowledged. "Oh, and my mother, despite how troublesome it was, had be buy you this." Shikamaru handed Ino a small bouquet of roses. Ino blushed.

"W–wow, you didn't have to get me these," the blonde girl breathed, admiring the flowers.

"Trust me, I did," the boy said in a tone indicating he probably dealt with some sort of threat.

"Wait, these are from _my_ shop," Ino stated suddenly, turning the roses over and noting the logo. "How did you buy these without me noticing?"

"Um… try I know what hours you're off?" The Nara boy suggested.

"You do?"

"It wasn't that hard to figure out. By remembering all the times you couldn't come to training or couldn't make it to eat because you had to work I was able to compile them into a simple schedule."

"Whoa…" Ino blinked. "That's…. Whoa."

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Meanwhile, at a certain table located behind the potential lovebirds…

"Why do I continue to follow you people?" Neji sighed as he scanned the menu, and glared at his cousin briefly, making her more uncomfortable.

"Hey, I saw that," Kiba growled, placing his arm protectively around Hinata's shoulders. Suddenly Neji snapped.

"Don't touch a Hyuuga in such a manner!" he spat.

"Are you telling me what to do?"

"Yes, in fact, I happen to be ordering you to not make _that_ part of our clan anymore foul by making _her_ more unclean."

"Oh, _yeah_?"

"Will you two knock it off?" Sakura and Tenten said in unison, and then looked at each other oddly. For whatever reason, Sakura was sitting next to Neji, who sat next to Tenten, who sat next to Kiba, who sat next to, obviously, Hinata at the circular table."Seriously, Neji–– Have you been taking your pills?"

"Not _now, _Tenten," he growled, looking slightly embarrassed at his current company.

"Uh huh. That's what I thought. Oh," Tenten added thoughtfully, "Mom says you skipped your last session. I know you think you don't need it, but they really are good for you."

"Session?" Sakura asked nosily.

"Yeah, my mom is Neji's psychiatrist," Tenten replied as if _everyone_ already knew that.

"Neji has a psychiatrist?"

"Ah, um, Tenten-san, your mother is a psychiatrist?"

"Dude, Tenten has a _mom_?" Kiba finished with a laugh. Everyone merely stared at him. "What?"

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"So… what movie are we going to see?" Ino asked cheerily after they had all finished lunch and Shikamaru had at long last paid the tab.

"I dunno… I guess you can pick," he shrugged.

"Really?" _Wow… That's kind of gentlemanly…_

"I suppose."

"Hey, you two! Less talk, more date!" Sakura cried from behind them suddenly.

"Listen, Forehead, I thought the whole _point_ of the date was to talk!" Ino yelled back.

"…oh. Well, we're bored," the pink-haired kunoichi deadpanned.

"That's great for you, Sakura. How about you guys go do something _else _and let _me_ go on the date?"

"Yeah, right, and let you go off and do something and then pretend like you went on a date when you really didn't?" Sakura asked. "You must think I'm really stupid."

Ino didn't even dignify that with a response.

"We're here!" Kiba announced randomly and pointed at the movie theater.

"Hey, _Chocolate Pudding Man II_ is out!" Ino commented excitedly. "The first one was supposed to be the scariest movie ever! Why don't we go see that?"

"At this rate, I suppose it's a triple date?" Shikamaru asked with a sigh.

"What?" Everybody else exclaimed.

"Well, there's a male and female from three teams here, so I figured that would constitute as a triple date."

"Ah, that makes sense," Hinata piped up, because even though she'd rather it be Naruto, Kiba was her friend so it didn't really count. Kiba didn't say anything as he was on a different planet at the moment.

"Well, as long as it's under the context of 'team' it's okay, right?" Tenten asked Neji. He shrugged.

"It doesn't really count since we're all here to watch you," he said to Shikamaru, who nodded in agreement.

"Wait, I just realized _I_ don't have anybody!" Sakura whined, crossing her arms.

"If you want I can call Lee," Tenten offered with an evil grin.

"You know what? Suddenly I feel like an independent woman!"

"Aside from that, you guys have to pay for your own tickets," Shikamaru announced. "Lunch pretty much cleaned out my wallet."

"Well, I'll pay for Hinata and I," Kiba offered, as if anybody expected him not to.

"Neji?" Tenten prodded.

"Yes, yes, I know," he sighed, still in the midst of trying to figure out why he was still participating. Oh, yes. He loved to watch people tortured. Well, there you have it.

"Wait, I have to pay for my own ticket, too? I think somebody should pay for me because I'm here to make sure this date is legit," Sakura pointed out.

"Seeing as though you have no date, Sakura, you can always just leave," Ino said. Nobody argued with her.

"I hate you," was all Sakura could say as she felt for her wallet.

"Not that I'm a particularly social person and enjoy these types of outings, but I think we should get in line," Neji said, indicating a row that was beginning to grow longer.

"Right!" Everyone agreed in varying degrees of enthusiasm as they all shuffled over to make the line even _longer_.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"So…" Ino began after they had been in line for a few minutes. "How're your parents?"

"Good, I guess," Shikamaru said. "My dad told me that he and Chouji's dad were planning on having a get-together. Is your family coming?"

"Yeah, you know my dad wouldn't miss another InoShikaCho party…"

"Same with mine."

"So, um, while we're talking and stuff, what kind of girl is it you like?" Ino asked slyly. Shikamaru merely blinked.

"What kind of girl I like?"

"Yeah. I mean you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I was just thinking…"

"I guess someone intelligent, strong… Someone who can respect me," he shrugged casually. "Preferably someone who doesn't nag me all the time…"

"Wait, are you saying _I_ nag you all the time? Is that what you're implying?"

"No…" her teammate said, even though he was tempted to add, "Though you do."

"Shikamaru, you're holding up the line!" Kiba called from behind them.

"Thank you, Kiba," he responded sarcastically.

"'Welcome!" Kiba replied obliviously.

"Kiba, why _are_ you here?" Ino asked as he went to pay for his tickets.

"_Hinata_ invited me," Kiba said proudly as if Hinata were the Fairy Queen Ruler Empress of the World… which she probably is, in Kiba's mind.

"Um, well… He asked if I was doing anything… And I told him about this… and… um…" Hinata ducked her head and hid her face in her hands as she blushed, unable to take so much attention at once.

"Enough chit-chat!" Sakura announced randomly as she brandished her ticket. "It's movie time!"

"And that's… why I hate her," Ino muttered as the pink-haired kunoichi marched off determinedly.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"ACK! DON'T GO IN THAT ROOM!" All the girls shouted in unison as they watched the _horrifying_ film, grabbing onto the nearest guy. Except… Hinata just said, "Eep!" and as for Sakura…

"NARUTO?" She screamed, immediately letting go.

"Sakura-chan!" he smiled, ignorant of her revulsion. "What're you doing here? Wait, don't tell me–– you're stalking me now?"

"In your _dreams_!" Sakura growled, punching him into the concrete floor. But not really. She hasn't been bitten by the radioactive Tsunade yet…

"Sakura, some of us are _trying_ to watch a movie," an extremely familiar voice snapped.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura shrieked, making everyone in the movie theater jump as she latched onto him like a leech. Only, she didn't bite him or suck his blood… yet.

"ACK! SAKURA, GET OFF ME!" Sasuke hissed, desperately trying to wiggle out of her grasp.

"NO! I WILL NEVER LET GO AS LONG AS WE ARE NEAR EACH OTHER!" Sakura proclaimed dramatically. Or, at least, she _would_ have had it not been for the stream of fangirls popping up from their seats to get some Sasuke lovin' as well.

"ONE MOVIE! JUST ONE MOVIE WITHOUT THIS HAPPENING!" Sasuke groaned loudly as he kicked open the door to the movie theater and rushed out followed by a mob of girls screaming "SASUKE-KUN!" Oh, and that one screaming the same thing, only affixed to his waist.

"Wait for me, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as he ran after them, injuring several people who were _already_ almost dead from the recent mob. "Stupid Sasuke! I'll get you!"

It was silent in the movie theater… Then everyone just shrugged and turned back to movie that was just _so_ much more enjoyable without certain people around.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"Ino, you can stop hugging me, now," Shikamaru told the blonde girl. Ino blushed and immediately let go in response.

"Sorry…"

"Aren't you going to go follow the herd?" The Nara boy asked, nodding in the direction of the exit.

"Well, yeah, I was… But then we all know that I'm a far better kunoichi than all of them and then not _only_ would we have to do this over, but I'd have Sasuke all to myself in two minutes flat. That's really no fun," Ino sighed. _Yeah, you two were definitely made for each other_, thought Shikamaru with a groan. Then he yawned.

"Besides, this is fun, right?" Ino asked as she glanced back at the screen… only to see a poor passerby melt into chocolate pudding!

"AHHHH!" she screamed, clutching Shikamaru's arm.

"ACK! Don't _do_ that!" He chided. "What're are you so afraid of, anyway? You can totally see through those so-called 'special affects.' And the plotline? Not even worth following…"

"SHH!" some random person who has no patience for kids talking in a movie theater shushed.

"Okay, just don't go anywhere anytime soon," Ino squeaked as she ignored the "shushing" person, a tear forming in her eye as she held on tighter.

"Whatever," Shikamaru shrugged, but a telltale smile tugged slightly at his lips.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"Tenten, is there a problem?" Neji asked almost icily, except… that was just his normal voice. Not that there's much of a difference.

"Ah, no! Just dropped some popcorn! Yup!" She grinned, getting up hastily. "Why?"

"Dropped some popcorn?" he repeated skeptically.

"Yep."

"_On my lap_?"

"Oh… Well, yeah. I know how you are about your clothes… wouldn't want you to have to get it cleaned or something," Tenten offered lamely.

"Oh. Okay then," Neji shrugged, but then _a lady_ turned into chocolate pudding on the screen!

"AHHHHHH!" Tenten squealed, basically doing the same thing Ino had done five seconds ago.

"TENTEN!"

"Sorry! I meant, 'AHHHH, I dropped it again!'" she laughed nervously. Neji sighed.

"Tenten, you know, if you keep dropping popcorn I won't buy you _any_ next time," he announced grumpily. Then they both blinked, despite the sound of screams in the background.

"Next time?" Tenten repeated.

"Well… No… Not that I… was planning… I mean," Neji took a breath and shook his head. "I meant if you're going to keep dropping popcorn, you might as well just move."

"Oh… Um… Sorry," Tenten muttered, a little hurt.

"Neji?" she asked five minutes later.

"Yeah?"

"Can I at least hold your hand?" Neji moaned.

"Is that absolutely necessary?"

"Yes."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Fine."

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kiba screamed, covering Hinata's little, "Eep!"

"CHOCOLATE PUDDING MAN!"

"SHHH!" shushed the same person as before… Or maybe not. Maybe it was their cousin or grandma or someone _completely_ random! But alas, we shall never know.

"Sorry!" Kiba and Hinata whispered nervously at the same time.

"Kiba-kun, you shouldn't scream so loud," Hinata scolded, although because it's Hinata it wasn't really _scolding_.

"I'm sorry, I just… Well, I get excited," Kiba said quickly, having almost uttered "scared."

"Oh… I can't really see why… It's such a scary film," Hinata squeaked, shivering for emphasis.

"Well, I'm a guy, Hinata, and guys aren't scared."

"You're lucky then."

"Yeah, I guess I––– AHHHHHH! CHOCOLATE PUDDING MAN!"

"Eep!"

"**_SHHHHHHH!_**"

"Sorry!"

"Kiba-kun, maybe there's a… better way to get rid of your energy and me… being… afraid," Hinata suggested timidly once the horrid apparition of melting pudding faces had past. "Maybe… if I hold onto you… then you won't jump up and scream… and I'll… feel better…I guess…"

"What?" Kiba blinked.

"O-oh, well… if you think it's a bad idea," Hinata murmured, because in case you hadn't noticed, she's been having a lot of ideas lately.

"NO! I mean, uh, no, no, that's cool. Er, if it's okay with you," Kiba added smoothly.

"Um, well I guess it is," Hinata smiled nervously as she timidly placed her hands around Kiba (but not Sakura-style), making them both turn red. However, for the rest of the movie, neither of them screamed anymore.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"Mmm… Shikamaru? Shikamaru!" Ino cried suddenly as she awoke fully, shaking her comrade awake as well. "Shikamaru, you lazy butt, get _up_!"

"Mmneh…?" Shikamaru asked groggily.

"I don't know. The movie's over… And I can't remember anything else," Ino stated worriedly. "Anyways, let's go wake everyone else up." Quickly (well, for Shikamaru, anyway) they made their way among sleeping groups and couples, using their various ninja talents to awake them. Well, Shikamaru kind of fell asleep after the first person; so only Ino managed to be the one waking people. Kiba and Hinata were a bit difficult, as well. Snuggled in each other's arms, Kiba sprang to life immediately because he's such a light sleeper. Hinata was a different story.

"No… Just a… bit longer…" she murmured, clutching Kiba's shirt like a small child, making him go into absolute bliss mode. "…Naruto-kun…" So much for that.

"Hinata…" Ino whined, growing impatient.

"It's okay, Ino. Go get everyone else, I'll take care of her," Kiba offered in such a protective fashion that Ino had no choice but to say "yes." Up ahead, someone stirred and, upon closer inspection, appeared to be panting. At first Ino assumed this figure was Shikamaru, but no, it was…

"Tenten?" Ino asked, a bit confused.

"Yeah?"

"What're you… what happened?" Ino managed.

"Gimme… gimme a sec," she breathed, and then spoke without panting. "Let's head to the café and discuss this with everyone."

"That place is open now?" Ino asked, noting that it was getting near dinnertime.

"Yeah. And they make pretty good sandwiches, if I recall. It'll be a good place to talk about everything and get fed, too." And with that Tenten walked over to where Neji still lay passed out, followed by Ino.

"Shouldn't you–––?"

"No," Tenten ordered abruptly. "_Never_ try and wake Neji. He… he'll get up on his own." The horror on Tenten's face made Ino obey without a word.

"All right, let's move out," Tenten puffed as she slung Neji over her shoulder in a way that suggested she had done such _far_ too many times before.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"Hey, these sandwiches are delicious!" Sakura declared randomly, chunks of bread and Kami-sama-knows-what spewing from her lips. A few members of the group actually managed to hide their disgust. "What?"

"Where did you go, anyways?" Tenten asked as she gazed for a second at the still-sleeping form of Neji. _I tell him four hours of sleep isn't enough, but does he listen_? _No_…

"Oh. Well…" Then Sakura launched into a half hour tale about how she had managed to stay latched onto Sasuke for fifteen minutes (breaking a previous record of 14 minutes and 37 seconds) before he finally grew desperate and started using fire jutsu on/around her. That would account for her currently shorter and much blackened hair.

"…and that's when I decided to go to the café, and lucky me, you guys were there!" She finished with a gleaming smile. _Lucky us indeed_, thought the less-than-kind people.

"Unh…" Everybody turned to see Neji slowly waking up, his hair askew rather comically. "My head…"

"'Morning, sleepyhead," Tenten muttered, a fake annoyed tone to her voice.

"What happened?" The Hyuuga boy managed to slur. "I remember there was chocolate pudding… " Everyone blinked, and then eventually figured out why he would remember such a bizarre thing.

"Hey! We watched that movie!" Kiba announced proudly, which lead even Hinata to shake her head in pity.

"Speaking of movies, I know we were at one, but… why are we on a hill?" The group of shinobi looked about as if they, too, had just realized this fact about their surroundings.

"Oh… That's right. The café was overcrowded, so we just decided that we should eat at the Hill," Ino explained.

"Yeah. I wish I had remembered to bring my boom box. Then we could have cool music in the background, and play that game where we run in time to it," Tenten mused.

"Or that game where we all stand in a line and see who can stare at the sunrise the longest. I think Sasuke-kun still has a video of last time," Sakura mused. All the guys groaned inwardly, because the Line Game was such a girly thing to do. Which is pretty ironic, considering Sasuke made a video recording of it…

"So, Tenten, what happened after everyone fell asleep?" Ino managed to ask, noting that her date was currently in a state of slumber himself.

"Well…" Tenten began, preparing everybody for a story longer than Sakura's.

As it had turned out, at the very end of the movie evil rogue ninjas from an unknown country had crashed into the theater, demanding twenty dollars from everyone. When the ninjas in the audience began to retaliate, the evil shinobi unleashed their fearsome attack: a genjutsu that put everyone to sleep _and_ erased their memory of fifteen minutes prior to the jutsu's use. Not only did _that_ part come in handy, but unless a person dispelled it immediately, they would be put to sleep for a few _hours_.

"Are you serious?" Sakura asked incredulously because she wasn't there to witness it.

"Yeah, and that's not all…" Tenten continued. Apparently the only way to dispel the jutsu was to take in a certain antidote. And this time the antidote had been placed in the nasty popcorn that the shinobi had assumed everyone else wouldn't eat. But guess who kept dropping and eventually eating popcorn? That's right, Konoha's own little weapons mistress. Also, conveniently enough, the evil rogue ninjas turned out to be puppets that could only be shut down if a kunai hit a certain part of them, but it had to be _precise_. Which, of course, their master would _never_ have thought to be a weakness because who could throw a kunai that accurately?

As Tenten's narrative came to a close, awkward, embarrassment-filled silence seeped into the atmosphere. Neji fidgeted, and then finally spoke up.

"So what you're telling us is that that was your one moment to shine, and we all missed it," he concluded, combing his fingers through tangled chocolate-colored strands of hair. Suddenly, before Tenten could either cause Neji unimaginable pain in a fit of fury or bawl miserably, Ino stood up.

"Well, I think it's time to go! So… let's all go home!" She announced, kicking Shikamaru and waking him. "Up and at 'em, we're going."

"Five more minutes…." He whined, rolling away from Ino's reach… and down the hill. Ino slapped her forehead with her palm.

"S-so, Kiba-kun… Are you going to pick up Akamaru-kun now?" Hinata asked as they made their way from the group.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Hopefully Shino hasn't tried to murder him or anything. I told him Akamaru wasn't allowed into that movie theater, so I think he understands…" Kiba mumbled, worry overcoming his features. Then he brightened. "Hey, you wanna come, too, Hinata? It's not that late. We could all hang out and stuff."

"Um…" Hinata hesitated, and then finally nodded. "All right."

"Okay, then, let's go!" Kiba cheered, much to Hinata's sensitive ears' dismay.

"Neji, don't you_ dare _fall asleep! I am _not_ carrying you back to your house. You remember what happened last time, don't you?"

"Please, Tenten. The day I acknowledge that you've ever carried me is the day you get a last name," Neji muttered grumpily. Tenten, however, thought she could hear a hidden note of foreshadowing.

"Well, I'm off," Sakura yawned. "You passed for today, Ino."

"Whatever," Ino said, rolling her eyes as she and Sakura headed to their closely situated but clearly separated homes. The night dissolved into a darkened chorus of insects, the sky dotted with ancient stars that patiently watched our shinobi travel home. At last, the moon came out, happy to have the day over with. However…

"Hello?" A voice called from the expanse below the hill, a tinge of agitation evident. "Ino? Guys? _Hello_? I'm still at the bottom of the hill, you know! Is anyone going to…?" Finally, it left off with a sigh. "How troublesome."

**Hey, I hope you guys liked that! This chapter was _really_ long, but I wanted to make sure I focused on Ino this time! And make up for the lack of chapter posting I've been doing. Argh! Sorry. **

**In other news, I recently posted a new review on Naruto filler episodes that was supposed to be the "extra" for this chapter, but it got too long. So, check out _The Ramblings of a Naruto Fangirl aka Me _because it was originally made just for you! See y'all next chapter!**


	6. NarutoxIno

**Hey, welcome to the 6th chapter of "Like Ramen!" Hope you guys have been enjoying it so far! Don't forget to post any criticism and complaints; I'm all ears (but not really, because that would be just funky ¬¬)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto––– but I _do_ own a copy of Icha Icha Paradise**

**Kakashi**: What're you talking about? You just stole that off my dresser!

**Me:** You always have to ruin everything, don't you?

"But comrades! You must make me aware of the nature of your secret meetings!"

"Lee, don't look at me."

"Neji," Tenten sighed, knowing full well by now that it was a hopeless cause. "Listen, Lee, if you're not going to train then we aren't."

"But why will you not tell me what is going on?" Rock Lee pleaded, his eyes watering as he forcefully fell to his knees. "I beg of you!"

"Okay, why don't you do this, Lee. Go–––"

"Throw yourself off a cliff and leave us alone," Neji interrupted coldly.

"_No_, why don't you go find out what… Gai-sensei is doing?" Tenten suggested, brightening at her own idea.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee repeated, jumping up as his eyes flashed. "Indeed! The Master of All Youth!" He paused. "He is following around Kurenai-sensei with Asuma and Kakashi." Tenten slapped her forehead with her palm.

"_Fine_, why don't you–––"

"Go get a life, and then lose it suddenly."

"_Neji_! You're not helping!" Tenten exclaimed, throwing down her scroll and causing Neji to pause in his Heavenly Spin.

"Fine. Lee? Go run a billion laps around Konoha. Gai-sensei… told me to tell you that when we were done," Neji finished lamely.

"One billion?" Lee asked, uncharacteristic skepticism in his voice.

"Um, yeah."

"EXCELLENT! AND IF I CANNOT DO ONE BILLION LAPS, I MUST PUNCH A TREE THIRTY THOUSAND TIMES! AND IF I CANNOT DO THAT–––!" Lee exclaimed, already out of sight. The training grounds were silent.

"Why didn't I think of that sooner?" Neji mused.

"I don't know, because he's part of our _team_? Neji, you need to stop picking on him."

"Please, like I ever train with Lee," the pale-eyed boy pointed out, almost daring Tenten to argue otherwise, which she really couldn't.

"Whatever," Tenten muttered, giving up the losing battle. "I have to go. The hat." Neji blinked.

"That doesn't start for another hour." Tenten paused.

"What?"

"The sun," he replied simply, pointing upwards. "Your meeting doesn't start for another hour."

"…oh. Um…" Tenten scratched the back of her head awkwardly, not knowing what to do next. "Wanna come with me to wait?"

"No," Neji answered shortly, then hesitated. "But I could walk you there."

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"But Sakura-chaaaaaaaaan…" Naruto whined loudly, much to the annoyance of his favorite pink-haired kunoichi. "I wanna come, too, this time! You're always leaving me alone with Sasuke-afro now." Sakura paused to shake the boy off.

"Naruto, when did we ever spend time together?" the Haruno girl asked, aggravated. "And stop calling him that!"

"Lots of times," Naruto shrugged, ignoring the last comment. "But seriously! Tell me what you guys are doing! I almost had to hang out with _Chouji_ last time because _Shikamaru_ was with you guys! The only other people to hang out with were Sasuke and Lee… Although, Lee and I did compare notes about you…"

"I _knew_ that wasn't a cold," Sakura muttered to herself.

"And then Sasuke and I went to the movies, where I saw you…"

"Hold on, you missed Shi–––" Sakura stopped that completely unrealistic thought right in its tracks and continued on a separate one. "Wait, why _were_ you and Sasuke at the movies?" Naruto smiled slyly.

"I'll tell you if you tell me what's going on," he grinned.

"No!" Sakura snarled, striking Naruto squarely in the face so that he crashed into a telephone pole, as they _were_ walking down a street. "And you'll never find out!" With that announcement she pranced off… but unbeknownst to her she was predictable enough that Naruto merely replaced himself with a bunshin and followed her. Perhaps he pranced as well, but either way Sakura's… ninja skills were not sharp enough to pick him up.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"I get to pick today!" Sakura squealed, nearly spilling Tenten's strawberry milkshake and making the rest of her pink.

"Why are you so excited?" Ino asked as she sipped her ice water because, quite honestly, there was no chance she could gain a calorie from regular old water. Unless… unless it was somehow _treated _water! Ino pushed her glass away.

"I dunno. I just felt hyper," Sakura sighed, but it ended up sounding like a nervous giggle.

"Maybe three shots of espresso wasn't a good idea…" Tenten said sarcastically, rolling her eyes to boot.

"Noitdefinitelywas," Sakura assured her with a scarily speedy voice. "LeecalledlastnightlikethenightbeforeandthistimehecalledfiveseperatetimesThenthis

morningIcouldn'tfindSasuke-kunandhadtodealwithNarutoforhalfanhourbeforeIcamehere––– Heeheeheehee…" The other three merely looked at her.

"Don't look at me like that! You don't know what I had to go through! Ever since I was little… my forehead… And no friends… I try so hard… And I don't have a special move except biting people!" Sakura wailed suddenly, plunking her head down in her arms and beginning to cry.

"Caffeine low," Ino sighed, rubbing her temples. "I should have seen this coming."

"Sakura, Sakura. Here. What do you see in this inkblot?" Tenten asked as she whipped out a stack of cards with black ink spewed all over them.

"Um…" Sakura sniffled, looking up from her crossed arms. "I see a… a fan. And Sasuke-kun."

"Mm-hmm. And this one?"

"S….Sasuke-kun and I on our first date."

"This one?"

"Our wedding."

"How about this one?"

"Our first child."

"And… this–––"

"Okay!" Ino exclaimed. "Hinata, you pick again if Sakura isn't." Hinata woke up from her reverie involving Naruto and looked around, confused.

"Ah… Um… I…"

"I'm fine!" Sakura yelled suddenly. "I can pick it." So saying, Sakura pulled out a keychain-sized scroll and summoned her disgustingly tacky pink hat.

"Geez, you waste so much chakra just to summon a hat," Tenten pointed out.

"Not like she uses it otherwise," Ino grumbled, clearly impatient. Five minutes later, she glared at Sakura. "You're taking awfully long to just pick out of a ha…" She trailed off. Sakura was completely frozen, staring at the slip of paper as if it were a tarantula.

"What is it?" Tenten asked, peering over Sakura's shoulder. Then she suddenly had to bite back her laughter.

"Lemme guess, it's Lee," Ino sighed. Tenten shook her head.

"Actually, it's–––"

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"Naruto?" Kiba frowned as the orange-clad boy stood in front of him. "What're you doing here?"

"I need some information," Naruto said in way that he thought was cool. Neji, Kiba, and Akamaru continued to stare at him.

"Arf!"

"Yeah, what _sort_ of information?" Kiba asked suspiciously while Neji ate a cracker, because, you know, there's practically _nothing_ in fat-free saltines. Unless… unless the package was _lying_! Neji dropped the cracker back on his plate in disgust.

"Like… what you guys have been up to with the ladies…" Naruto explained, pronouncing "ladies" in that overly used suggestive tone.

"Why does that matter to you? Jealous?" Neji remarked coolly. Kiba grinned and raised his hand for a high five… only to be left hanging there. But that's okay, because he's just so easily distracted anyways!

"No…" Naruto whined slightly, "I just don't want to be left out! It's not fair! Even _Shikamaru_ was invited–––!"

"Trust me, it's nothing you'd want to be invited to," Neji sighed.

"Yeah, right! You're just telling me that because you don't want me here!"

"No, I'm telling you that because it's true. If I didn't want you here, I'd tell you to leave. So leave."

"No, I'm gonna stay here and you guys can't make me move," the whiskered boy grinned, sticking out his tongue appropriately. Kiba, Akamaru, and Neji groaned inwardly, wondering how it was at all possible that this idiot had managed to beat them all in the Chuunin exams. It was awkwardly silent.

"Speaking of Shikamaru," Kiba said randomly between bites of the rest of his double bacon cheeseburger. "I told you we should have set up meetings at that grill place. I really can't see him coming to Burger Kage." Neji shrugged.

"The girls are at a café," he offered sarcastically.

"I know. I followed Sakura, but then got distracted by you guys," the blonde boy announced.

"Listen, Naruto, you're one of my friends and all, but you can't sit with us right now," Kiba said finally, punctuated with yaps from Akamaru. "Yeah, like he said, only in nicer words. This is a secret club that you can't join." Neji groaned, knowing that if Naruto was anything like Lee…

"A _club_? I wanna join!" Naruto griped loudly, jumping up and down, frustrated. "That sounds so cool!"

"It is! We call it 'Ino's Ex-dates' Club!'" Kiba smiled excitedly, whisking out a package from under the table. "See? We've got T-shirts for everyone! And we even have matching armbands! Sakura really went overboard, but that's okay with me!" Naruto's eyes widened as he took it all in with amazement. "Look, one for Akamaru!"

"Wait, _Akamaru_ gets to join?" he gasped suddenly. "That's _completely_ unfair! I want to join the club!"

"Naruto, you have to go on a date with Ino, and all I know is that the choosing process involves a hat and _you_ are definitely _not_ going to be chosen!"

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"You did _what_?" Kiba exclaimed over Akamaru's barks at Sakura.

"All right! I get to join the club!" Naruto exclaimed ten minutes after the girls had joined the other guys at the appointed Burger Kage.

"Geez, Naruto, you're so excited," Ino mumbled, and then gave Sakura a haughty look. "Guess we got bored with Sakura, then…"

"Woot! I get a T-shirt!" Naruto cried joyously, totally oblivious to the task he would have to complete.

"Wait, you made _T-shirts­_?" Tenten asked Sakura with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I had to buy them in bulk, and I only needed a couple to make ones of Sasuke-kun," the pink-haired girl admitted.

"Kami-sama, Sakura, you and your spare time," Ino said, rolling her eyes.

"Okay! Let's get this show on the road!" Kiba declared. Then he paused, and looked around. "Has anyone seen Hinata? I can't pick up her scent in this crowd!"

"She said she was feeling sick," Tenten answered, pointing to a chair where Hinata lay slumped over.

"Hinata!" Kiba exclaimed, rushing over to the poor girl. Akamaru barked wildly.

"So…" Tenten began after that little event, "Where to?"

"Wait, you guys're coming, too?" Naruto looked at Sakura eagerly. "Cool, I'll have _two_ dates!"

"Nice try, Naruto!" Ino and Sakura growled, punching him into the ground simultaneously, and then doing a double take. After a brief pause they slapped hands in a high five and smiled. Even girls who are rivals shouldn't have to stand for anything less than respect!

"Ow…" Naruto got up off the ground, blood seeping from his head. At the table Hinata suddenly twitched in the midst of Kiba's encouragement and felt her pocket for her wonder salve. But then she sighed and decided she just didn't have the courage in front of so many people.

"So, where are we going?" Neji asked, echoing his "date's" former question.

"Y'know, it's a funny story but recently I won that ramen eating contest over at IHOR––" Everybody shivered at the horrible abbreviation. "And it just so happens I have eight free tickets to the Greatest Show in the Land of Fire!"

"Wait, we're going to Shinobi Search?" Sakura breathed excitedly. Naruto gave her a weird look, and then smiled because he had made Sakura happy if not indirectly and in a strange way.

"No! We're going to the circus!" he cheered. "And we even have an extra ticket in case Shikamaru decides to show up! Or someone else other than Sasuke-afro!"

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A couple miles away, Sasuke sneezed and then hacked a little. Annoyed, he tensed his meditating position. "Stupid Naruto."

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Naruto sneezed, but ignored it because he had other things to do. Like… not sneeze. And win over Sakura's heart once and for all!

Amazingly enough it had been a snap for Naruto to convince Hinata to use the free ticket, even though she looked like she was about to pass out and Kiba had stretched out his arms to catch her just in case. At any rate, the entire original group (save a certain Nara boy) was able to successfully make it to the circus. Currently they all handed in their tickets, waiting for the last of the shinobi to enter the circus grounds.

"Ino-chan?" Naruto grinned innocently, daring to feign closeness with this ultra-fan of his archrival.

"Erm, yes, Naruto?" She asked, surprised. None of her other dates, save for Akamaru, had been even close to this affectionate.

"Well, I know it's our first date and all, and it's only for a dare..." Naruto quickly glanced in Sakura's direction; a sneaky smile was plastered upon, shall we say, "Inner Naruto." "But… Well, can I hold your hand?" Ino might have blushed right then except that it was Naruto speaking.

"Why? I thought you liked Sakura," the girl of similar hair color to him replied guardedly.

"Well, I do… Um, but maybe you could change my mind!" Naruto offered quickly as he saw Ino's interest decline. "I mean, I'm sure your hands are _so_ much softer than hers."

"Um… Yeah, they are. But…" Ino felt kind of weird all of a sudden, as if something was out of place, but dismissed the thought entirely. "Well, okay. Just this once."

"YES!" Naruto cheered, and then caught himself. "Erm, uh, your hair looks especially gorgeous today! Those barrettes really make you look cute."

"Why thank you, Naruto," Ino replied, granting him a stunning if not slightly flirtatious smile. A woman always goes for compliments… most of the time.

"All right, we've got enough time to look around at the carnival and then find some good seating. Everybody meet back here in half an hour, okay?" Sakura proclaimed as if somebody had died and made her leader.

"Okay!" The more animated ones agreed, and the more calm people merely nodded. Then the collection of ninja made their separate ways to whatever happened to interest them most. A few minutes later Sakura found herself torn.

"ARGH! I'm alone _again_!" She cried, and finally settled to follow the lady of the dare and see how she would fare against Naruto.

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"Wow! Look, they have the game where you have to guess which cup the coin is under! And look at those panda plushies! So cute!" Tenten squealed happily. "Neji, let's play!"

"But I hate carnival games…" he sighed.

"Fine, I guess I'll go." Tenten paid the man in charge of the game and sat down, concentrating as he began to shuffle the cups. Neji merely stood stupidly in the background. When at last the man had finished he looked to Tenten, a confident grin on his face.

"Okay, little lady. Which one will it be?" The bunned girl hesitated, looking longingly at the panda plushies. A sign hung next to them explaining what prizes could be gotten for what, and Tenten had to guess correctly five times in a row if she were ever to have her own panda! Letting out a nervous sigh, the girl reached for a cup, only to be interrupted by Neji's fairly obvious warning cough. Curious, Tenten arched an eyebrow. The boy simply shook his head, and then looked away when the shuffler looked in his direction. Suddenly Tenten found herself softly being tapped on her right shoulder. Turning red slightly at the touch, Tenten grinned and pointed to the right cup. Of course, it was correct.

"Huh," the game manager grunted, a little shocked but confident enough still that this girl and her boyfriend wouldn't be able to get the grand prize. Nobody ever did.

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"Test your strength!" Kiba exclaimed as he grabbed Hinata's hand and nearly dragged her over to the contraption. "I love this game!"

"Ah, really, Kiba-kun?" She murmured, not really paying attention. To tell the truth she was a little upset with him because she had wanted to see what Naruto was up to. Sadly, she leaned against a nearby stall and watched Kiba pose comically with the hammer, Akamaru barking from the ground.

"Hey, Hinata, look!" Kiba shouted, pointing to the person who had gone before him. His score was so close to the top. It was then Hinata noticed the small packages of flowery stationery by the machine.

"K-Kiba-kun!" Hinata called suddenly before he swung.

"Yes, Hinata?" he asked with an infectious smile. Hinata pointed to the basket of prizes shyly and looked downward.

"Don't worry, Hinata! I'll win you whatever you want!" The Inuzuka boy declared resolutely. The Hyuuga girl grinned to herself. Although she had wanted to use the paper to practice confessing her feelings to Naruto, Hinata decided that her first letter would be to Kiba after all.

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"Okay, how about this one?" Naruto asked, using a henge jutsu to transform into a nearby lion, giving a pretty poor imitation of a roar. Ino giggled, and even the lion seemed to scoff at the poor boy.

"Naruto, you're so goofy," Ino managed. Naruto changed back and they both enjoyed a good laugh together. How romantic. How cute. How–––

"Revolting," Sakura muttered darkly as she stood near the horses awkwardly. The girl gritted her teeth and attempted to enjoy the preview of the animals in the show. As if the current love fest weren't enough, earlier she had seen the couple actually holding hands and seeming to genuinely be enjoying themselves. Not to mention the fact that they had whispered in each other's ears, occasionally glancing in her direction and chuckling. Not that Sakura was _jealous_ or anything. Oh, _no_. True, Ino's experiences so far had culminated in a happy ending, an understanding between the "couple of the day" and even a hint of admiration in some of the boys' eyes that had caused Sakura to feel like she was missing out. But Naruto? Seriously, something was wrong here. Ino couldn't just steal him right from under her nose, could she?

"_Steal_?_" _thought Sakura suddenly. _Well, it's not as if he's Sasuke_! But the question still hung in the air. And as Sakura watched the two in front of her continue to play and flirt, she found she was no longer so sure of the answer.

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"Geez, it took him so long to figure out you were a Hyuuga!" Tenten laughed as she lugged a bag of plushies. "I lost count of how many pandas you won!"

"Well, I suppose we made a good team," Neji commented, almost blushing at the possible direction his words could take but catching himself in time.

"Yeah, but it _was_ cheating," Tenten pointed out, and then smiled mischievously. "So… I thought you didn't _like_ those kinds of games."

"It… was extra training," Neji shrugged emotionlessly. Tenten sighed. Well, can't blame a girl for trying.

"But speaking of games, I believe I see a ring toss," the pale-eyed boy said, nodding towards the small stall. Tenten looked at him from the corner of her eye and grinned competitively.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"More training it is," he smiled slightly, his own competitive streak coming out.

"You're on, Neji. But be warned, I won't go easy on you because you look like a girl."

"Hey!" Neji yelled. Tenten merely laughed and ran away.

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"Wow, looks like everyone had such a _great_ time," Sakura commented with a smile whilst "Inner Sakura" groaned horribly at the grinning faces about her. Why was everyone so much happier than her? Everybody filed down the row; Neji, Tenten, Ino, Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, and finally Kiba all sat down in a perfect viewing spot.

"Geez, you guys were busy!" Ino said in awe of the other stuffed animals Tenten and maybe Neji had won in the ring toss. "Did you guys seriously win all of these?"

"Yep!" Tenten declared proudly, and Neji smirked a little.

"Fairly?" Ino pressed. Neji and Tenten exchanged a brief look of sudden guilt.

"Uh…"

"Hinata got stationery that _I_ won from the test your strength!" Kiba shouted down as he was on the end. Hinata grinned self-consciously as her teammate indicated the pale envelopes with flowery designs that matched her hair and eyes in a strange but perfect way.

"Wow," Ino nodded. "Naruto and I mainly just goofed off near the animals."

"Well, I guess I got carried away trying to make you laugh," he admitted, making Ino giggle as he placed his arm comfortably around her shoulder. Everyone stared at the two, shocked, especially Sakura who was close enough to strangle the boy. Hinata's smile drooped.

"Oh, Naruto," Ino laughed indulgently, adding to the astonishment.

"H-Hinata, what's wrong?" Kiba asked, his worry adding to his fear. "L-look, they have cinnamon buns! You love those! I'll buy some!" Akamaru, who was beginning to fall asleep, yawned lazily between the two.

"It's… I'm… fine, Kiba-kun," Hinata managed between deep breathes, trying to stop embarrassed tears from forming in her eyes. "Really." It had been bad enough when Naruto had had a crush on Sakura; at least Hinata possessed the Byakugan, and no amount of luck in fighting could compete with that! Not to mention that Sakura had no interest whatsoever in the blonde-haired, blue-eyed dream of the Hyuuga girl. But Ino! She was pretty, popular, funny, _and_ a talented kunoichi, and now she seemed to have set her sights on the only one Hinata had ever had eyes for!

"C'mon, Hinata, cheer up," Kiba begged, and even Akamaru whined.

"Um… Sorry, Kiba-kun," Hinata smiled wearily, leaning against his shoulder. "Thank you."

"You're… you're welcome," Kiba smiled, putting his hand on hers. Taking comfort in the small gesture, Hinata did not pull away. But she still wished she could get Naruto to notice her.

"Guys, the show's about to start!" Naruto whispered energetically as a man in a top hat walked to the center ring. The show, indeed, was an exciting one. Some way or another the three couples found themselves holding hands as they held their breath during the tight-rope walk, or constantly telling the other about what was going on in _that_ ring. Even Sakura managed to forget her no-date blues and found herself lost in the colorful parade of animals and death-defying tricks. …until someone caught her eye from across the tent.

"Hinata," she whispered, making the entranced girl jump. "Isn't that your teacher?" Hinata frowned slightly and then activated her Byakugan to get a better look. She gasped.

"Kiba-kun, that's Kurenai-sensei!" she murmured.

"Hey, you're right!" Kiba said a little louder. "And I think that's Asuma-sensei, too!" Word quickly passed down the line, and each time more and more information was confirmed. At last the group was able to determine that the two Jounin were on a date, with Gai and Kakashi sitting a row behind them. Sakura filled in everybody as to why this was.

"How funny," Ino commented at last. "They're doing the same thing we are!"

"Yeah, but you're definitely prettier than _she_ is," Naruto crooned and Ino smiled, pretending to be embarrassed.

"Do you think we should tell them we saw them here?" Tenten interrupted. After the message was passed down the line everyone decided it was better they not know. After all, Kakashi had been the only one to tell his team, as Gai had apparently only told Lee. Soon the conversation dimmed down and once more everyone was captured by the magic of the circus.

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"That was incredible!" Tenten remarked as everyone left the tent. "I loved that part when they came down the ribbons!"

"No, those trained dogs were hilarious! 'To get to the other side!' Ha! I love that one!" Kiba exclaimed, wiping a tear from his eye. Nobody bothered to remind Kiba that he was the only one who had understood that part of it.

"The clowns were definitely the best part!" Naruto smiled, imitating one throwing a pie at Ino. She ducked and pretended to squirt him with water. Then they laughed heartily.

"Well, I guess we might stick around and play some more games," Kiba said finally, noting the fact that Hinata was becoming depressed again. "See ya'… whenever!" Akamaru barked excitedly, refreshed from a nap, and Hinata merely waved shyly.

"Well, Neji and I have to carry these to my house," Tenten explained, kicking the large sack slightly. "So we'll see you, too." Neji said no good-byes, just grunted slightly as he slung the bag of plushies and stuffed animals onto his back.

"Um…" The last three stood there, the "couple of the day" staring at each other, then Sakura, then each other again.

"Well, _we've_ got to go," Sakura barely managed to say without snarling as she grabbed Naruto's hand. His eyebrows shot up and as he was being dragged backwards he almost laughed. Ino smiled and mouthed the words "Call me," supplying the hand signal as well. Sakura paid no attention.

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"Hey, Ino?"

"Yes, this is she. May I ask who's calling?"

"Hey, it's me, Naruto."

"Oh! Hey, Naruto," Ino smiled, glancing at the clock in her room as she cradled the phone on her shoulder. The time read 9:30 PM.

"Sorry I called so late. Sakura pulled me over to a café and she wouldn't stop talking to me." Ino snorted.

"I'm sure it was so much torture." Naruto laughed at this.

"Yeah, I can't believe it worked out after all! Guess I owe you five bucks."

"Told you she was that superficial. Maybe next time you'll believe me," Ino commented as she folded some laundry and put it away. "But we _do_ make a good team." The telephone line was silent for a few awkward moments.

"Naruto?"

"Ino?" They both paused, having spoken at the same time.

"You go first," Naruto offered.

"No, you." More silence.

"Fine. I wanted to say that I kinda think you're cute." They both stopped again, the simultaneous remark hanging in the air. On the other end Naruto leaned against the wall, a little embarrassed.

"Okay, but don't tell Sasuke-kun––"

"––Sakura-chan." They both laughed.

"Geez, we need to stop talking in unison," Ino murmured.

"Yeah." Pause.

"Anyways, I just wanted to call you and thank you for today. Y'know, the whole Sakura-chan thing. And to tell you I'll have your five dollars," Naruto concluded, clearing his throat.

"Well…" Ino smiled to herself as the last piece of laundry was put away. "Come by the shop tomorrow and buy something, then."

"Will do," Naruto agreed.

"Well, good night, then."

"'Night."

"See you in the morning."

"Yeah."

**Agh! No cliffy! You guys're so lucky that I spoil you. And also, before I receive any apocalypse-size flames (though I love them), I wanted to explain that no, this fic is _not_ NaruIno. They are not in love and I will not be ending the story here. But that was unexpectedly cute, no? Ha! Also, we're over halfway there! Can everybody guess who's next? We'll see if you're right! And before I go, I would appreciate some ideas for dates; quite honestly, I've almost run out. Thanks, and see ya' soon.**

P.S. A bonus question for all my readers: What flower does Tenten remind you most of and why? If I like your answer, I'll post it in the next chapter!


	7. LeexIno

Author's Note: I am so, so, _so_ sorry you guys! My hiatus is now over (for the most part). Thank you to those of you who are continuing to read and review for this story! You all deserve a world of love… and lots of cookies! Also, a warm thank you to toriotaku007 and Miss Ninja Kimi for their awesome flower suggestions!

**Disclaimer: Naruto was my idea first. Kishimoto-sensei, the animators, and the thousands of other fanfiction authors and fanartists copied me. **

**Ino: **Oh, stop confusing people!

"Tenten!" Ino exclaimed as she noticed the girl enter, the bell above the door chiming to announce her presence.

"Hey, Ino," the bunned girl smiled, then gasped. "Wow! Is this really your store?"

"Yamanaka Flowers. Yup, the best in floral arrangements and flower types you'll find!" Ino grinned, using her salesperson voice. "So how can I help you?"

"Oh, nothing really. I just came 'cause we were supposed to meet her today," Tenten smiled, bending down to sniff a lily. "Mmm… this smells heavenly!"

"Lily of the Valley," Ino recited carefully. "A sweet, cute flower that means _humility_ and _you've made my life complete_." Ino leaned over the cashier's desk slightly. "Come on, try another one."

"Um… all right, this one." Tenten pointed to a white blossom with a gleaming yellow center. Ino laughed.

"That's a daisy. Simple, but still sweet, it means _innocence_." The blonde girl came around the desk and pointed out other species, and soon the two found themselves in the company of Sakura and Hinata.

"All right, today we, as you all should know, are doing things a _little_ bit differently." In Ino's palm lay a stack of cards, each bearing the symbol of different flowers and the names of the remaining boys written under that symbol on a separate sheet of paper. "Flower Tarot. All right, let's get this started." With an expert wave of her hands, Ino placed six of the cards face down on the table in a pyramid formation, backs shining pristinely.

"Okay, Hinata. Your turn to pick today." Hinata looked around guiltily.

"Um… M-maybe I shouldn't p-pick… You know, I c-could use my Byakugan…" The other girls eyed her with humor. They didn't believe a word of it. Hinata sighed, closing her eyes and placing her hand on the center card. Hearts started pounding in the kunoichis' ears; apparently they were all great advocates of the supernatural. At last she flipped it over, revealing…. Ino groaned with annoyance.

"Lotus," she murmured, sinking into the chair behind her. "It means… _eloquence_." Sakura quickly checked the paper, alongside Tenten to see that the lucky gentleman was… you guessed it, Konoha's Dashing Green Beast himself, Rock Lee! Very… "gifted" in expression, one might say.

"Great… Well, might as well get him over with," Ino sighed as she moved to get out of her chair. She knew this one would take quite a bit more convincing on her and the rest of the group's parts.

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"Three pins! I got three pins!" Naruto started jumping around and yelling, throwing a fist in the air. Hinata, thus far, seemed to be the only one impressed.

"Please, Naruto. Lemme show you how it's _really_ done!" Kiba said as he grabbed a fairly large-sized blue ball and rolled it down the lane. He ended up knocking down three pins, too.

"Um… I meant to do that!" Kiba huffed as he walked back to a chair. In case you hadn't noticed, the date of the day was bowling, picked by the Handsome Devil himself. Of course, one may wonder how the four girls managed to convince that dashing young man to accompany them on a date in the first place. Well, the truth is… they didn't. That's right, Lee was tricked into thinking it was a "group outing," so he _of course_ didn't turn down the opportunity, especially with Sakura there! Ah, deception, you are the art of women!

"All right… Gather the chakra…" Neji murmured as he prepared to bowl. That's right; Neji was bowling… with a little friendly competitiveness on Kiba, Naruto, and Tenten's parts, that is. At last, his white eyes a cold flame of concentration, Neji released the sphere down the lane and… gutter ball. And again, gutter ball. He slinked back to his seat next to Tenten, a frown upon his lips. Now he felt stupid, which was an entirely new experience to the boy and seemed to pop up everywhere during these stupid escapades.

"All right, who's next?" Ino asked Shikamaru. In response, he snored. "Oh, for goodness sake!" She shoved the boy over, rudely awakening him and looked at the screen. The teams had been set up randomly in the following order: Team A consisted of Naruto, Lee, Sakura, and Tenten, and Team B had Kiba, Neji, Ino, and Hinata. Shikamaru actually showed up for once, but only because… Actually, he just does that sometimes. Poor Akamaru, on the other hand, was not allowed into the bowling alley because he was a dog. Aw… But at least he got to hang out with Shino… sort of.

"I shall conquer this sport if it is the last thing I do!" Lee announced suddenly, a wave crashing behind him. "I shall do it for my dear Sakura's love, which shines like a beacon to all mankind! And if I cannot do such, I shall do one thousand laps in the river! And if I cannot do _that_, I shall–––!"

"Lee, shut up and bowl!" Ino snapped as she released her glittery purple ball. She could barely handle the "group thing," lest a real date.

"Ah, yes, that!" Lee agreed, apparently unaffected by the blonde girl's wrath. "Well, then…" He struck an odd pose, held it for a second, and then chucked the emerald ball at the pins with all his might. They crashed everywhere… in the wrong lane.

"Hey, buddy, watch what you're doin'!" Some random person in the lane not belonging to Team B yelled. Kiba and Hinata thought that the voice sounded rather familiar, but couldn't place it… It had kind of a whispery, shush-y sound to it… Like it was accustomed to saying "shh!" all the time. Ah, well. While Lee had been showing that he did _not_ know how to play the game, Ino knocked over five pins. The next roll she got two. With an excited cheer she pumped her fist into the air, not unlike Naruto.

"Ooo, beat that, Sakura!" Ino declared with a flounce. It was only the first round, and already tensions were high. But that was just normal.

"Well, as soon as the lane gets cleared," Sakura growled. No sooner had she spoken than she looked over and saw that the lane was all ready. Ah, bowling magic!

"Oh, you're on!" She, predictably, countered her rival with a sparkly pink ball, frowning at the lane and concentrating. _Ino… this is for all the times I've looked up to you. That time I cut my hair; this is for that, too_! _I'm not a little crybaby anymore. I can stand strong_! _I will… beat you_! With that mighty Inner Sakura cry, the girl let loose her awesome strength, putting heart and soul into the bowl… And got gutter ball. The next time, she knocked over two pins. Please, you didn't _really_ think she was on Ino's level, did you? With a heavy sigh she walked over to the concession stand to buy a soda to ease her nerves.

"Um… ah…" Hinata shuffled self-consciously over to her team's lane, porting a _teensy_, cute lil' white bowling ball. She looked so precious…

"You can do it Hinata!" No, it was not Naruto, but Hinata's tireless #1 fan, Kiba. "Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike!" He had so much confidence in her. Hinata glanced at Naruto, who wasn't even paying attention to her, and then back at Kiba. Well, she couldn't let him down, could she?

"W-well, here I go!" With as much might as the shy girl could muster, Hinata rolled the ball down the lane… and it continued rolling. In fact, it rolled so slow that there was _no doubt_ the ball would strike the pins head-on! It kept rolling… rolling…almost there… and… gutter ball. And again, a gutter ball. Hinata sighed. What could she have expected?

Sakura was coming back just then with _her_ not-so-loyal but energetic fan, and arrived just in time to hear the tail-end of Kiba's enthusiastic encouragement and to see… the first strike! On the screen the words "Kunai Panda" flashed insistently in bright yellow above a large "X."

"Honestly, I don't know what you're gawking at," Tenten replied with a shrug as she bowled yet another strike. In the awed silence Shikamaru could be heard snoring.

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The final score of the first game came out to look something like this: Naruto: 65, Lee: 3 (and those were hit by the pins of the next lane, at which point Lee was restricted from continued play), Sakura: 22, Kiba: 65, Neji: 0, Ino: 46, and Hinata: 0. Tenten, on the other hand, kept getting strikes, again and again. In fact, after the first game, everyone basically just sat around and watched her, eventually attracting a big enough crowd that the manager began to watch to see if she could beat the previous record. Within the first forty minutes, she had doubled it.

"How does she _do_ that?" Kiba and Naruto kept exclaiming, and then laughing because they said something at the same time, which for some reason they found hilarious. Shikamaru slept on, unaware. Hinata and Neji sat near them, totally amazed and oblivious to the other. Neji… he also felt a little proud, secretly, of Tenten's accomplishment. Just a little, though.

Ino, Sakura, and Lee, on the other hand, had somehow found there collective way over to the refreshment area, and were now engaged in a–––

"Hotdog eating contest?" The lady arched an eyebrow as she rung up the necessary money it would cost to buy the near-three digit amounts of hotdogs the group had ordered. Teenagers these days. What would their parents say?

"All right!" Sakura announced. She faltered as she set the last tray down in front of herself, wondering how they had managed to get into this ridiculous competition in the first place. Ah, yes. She had been jealous of the fact that Ino was _seemingly_ so much better than herself, and so had challenged her to a rematch; the lame gorging of oneself on questionable meat products was all the pink-haired girl could offer. Then Lee had stepped in and demanded he go instead of Sakura, because it was his duty to protect her in all cases, etc, etc. Being the stubborn girl she was, Sakura was still in the contest to beat Ino, who at the moment seemed unconcerned with the piles of hotdog before her. Lucky pig, she barely ate as it was and so probably had _plenty_ of room.

"Honey, I asked if you were ready." Sakura jerked herself from her inner doubts.

"Wh-what?"

"Are you ready to start?" One of the women who normally worked the refreshments had volunteered to help them with their little game, and now stared intently at Sakura. The kunoichi glanced hesitantly at the glasses of water they had all been provided, the hotdogs, Ino and Lee's determined faces… She frowned resolutely.

"Yes, I'm ready." "Heck yeah! I'll eat my way to victory you sloppy blonde pig, and then _you'll_ be the one looking up to_ me_!" Inner Sakura kicked and punched loudly, grinning from ear to ear.

"All righty then." The woman waved a greasy napkin absentmindedly. "On your marks… get set… eat!" She dropped the white square of paper, and immediately the three ninja began to stuff their faces, each having his or her own different method.

_ I must win this for Sakura, and prove my love to her once and for all_! _And if I cannot muster the strength to do that, I will_–––! Moving aside from the predictable train of thought, he concentrated on using his inhuman speed to choke down hotdogs much faster than his opponents. True, he didn't have _that_ much of a lead, but it was enough. Sakura, on the other hand, had learned the smart technique of dipping the hotdog into the water so that the bun moistened, and thus producing a morsel easier to eat. As for Ino, she was planning something far craftier. But for now she would settle on trying to down at least five. _Five_? She shivered. _Ick_. She despised the pink, rounded globs of fatty mystery meat. Didn't people know how unhealthy they were? Ugh!

At last Lee had to pause for a three-minute break. The "judge" came over almost instantly, checking to see if he was out. The boy tried as well as he could with a full stomach to explain that after eating so superhumanly fast, he would have to rest. The lady merely shrugged and decided she would give everybody a few minutes if they needed it. Meanwhile, Sakura was still going strong. She had eaten eleven hotdogs, and was on her twelfth. People from the crowd around Tenten began to drift over to the table, curiosity eating away at their features. She glanced at Lee, who was resting, as she placed the most bread and meat into her mouth. He was on his thirty-something dog, a lead she would not easily catch up to. But at least she had Ino; she knew from their friendship as children that the other girl would have trouble consuming all the oily food. This one was in the bag. At least, she thought so until she glimpsed a familiar gesture: the handseal for Shintenshin no jutsu. And we all _know_ Lee can't do jutsu, so...

"Ah, no!" Sakura cried, beginning to rise from the table to avoid the technique. She wasn't fast enough. Instantly Ino's body flopped down onto the table, and the three minute clock was on for her to beat Sakura, get back in her _own_ body, and then beat Lee.

_Well, here goes nothing. _Without much hesitation Ino stuck a hotdog precariously down Sakura's throat. The result was horrendous. No, she didn't _die_, you sillies. No, she didn't pass out… There you go, _that_ kind of horrendous result. With disgust Ino disengaged her family jutsu and regained possession of her body just in time. When Sakura awoke she found herself covered in soggy, half-digested hotdog all over. You're welcome for the description.

"Crud––– Ino!" She managed to blubber before covering her mouth at the mess and rushing off to the bathroom, despite her supposed future in the field of medicine where one _needs_ a strong stomach. Ino cackled to herself, avoiding looking at the puddles of hotdog goo to insure _she_ wouldn't react so embarrassingly, and started on another hotdog.

"S-Sakura-chan!" Lee's face paled. He had begun his eating rampage again, but now he paused mid-bite in light of the sudden circumstances. Should he go wait and comfort her? Should he continue in her place? The thirteen-year-old stared imploringly at his food, as if begging it for quick wisdom. Ahhh! It was no good. In the meantime, Ino was on her fifteenth or so hotdog, quite proud of her newfound talent. And now the judge began to approach Lee again, so he quickly began to chew, albeit a lot slower than his previous pace. He still didn't know what to do.

"L-Lee-san," someone murmured behind him, a mist of malodorous breath following. "Lee…" He turned in delight to see a wobbly Sakura, still a bit nauseous but at least cleaner. She gulped and tried again.

"Lee, you can't let her win! Don't let her take you out with her Shintenshin no jutsu." As Sakura began to gain strength she was able to explain, all the while Lee continuing to slowly eat.

"I shall avenge you, my dear cherry blossom in the sun!" Lee declared, and began t eat faster and more determined than ever. Would his stomach ever give out?

"Wait, is Shintenshin no jutsu perfectly legal?" Somebody from the large crowd that was _not_ near Sakura's side of the table asked randomly. It was discussed around the group, and some of the folks who were actual ninja decided it was, in fact, legal since it wasn't stated you couldn't use ninja skills in the beginning.

"Besides," another person added. "Wasn't that guy using like, super speed?" This was a very good point. However, Lee and Ino were now slowing down, unable to eat so much at their normal rate.

Ino frowned and formed the handseal once more, but stopped as soon as Lee saw her. In a flash he had moved, then returned.

"You cannot use that jutsu anymore, Ino!" he announced. "If you do, I shall just speed away, leaving your body helpless for a good few minutes and leaving me the winner." The blonde girl glared at him, and kept eating. Wasn't there _some_ way she could outsmart this guy?

"Yes, I may not be able to use jutsu, but I can be smart!" Lee added, his mouth full of bun and hotdog. Suddenly Ino's eyes lit up. That was it! If he couldn't use jutsu, then he couldn't dispel a sleeping genjutsu!

"You just made a big mistake," she grinned. Quickly she put her hands together and deftly formed handsigns for the desired jutsu. Lee, seeing this, was gone in a flash. But a moment later he dropped fast asleep, along with most of the bowlers and crowd who were normal people and _not_ ninja. Before the remaining ninja could dispel the jutsu so that _they_ wouldn't get knocked out, Ino had claimed Lee's body and it was all downhill from there.

"Aw…" Lee sighed when Ino disengaged. "I failed you, Sakura, my love! Failed you with the deepest of failure! Oh, the shame! I do not deserve to live anymore, for your disappointment is too much to bear!"

"Lee. Chill. It's fine," Sakura sighed. Then she glared at a smug Ino who sat in her chair being fawned over by her new fans. Okay, it was a known fact that Sakura had no romantic feelings for Lee at all. But as she watched him droopingly walk to the bathroom she felt rage boil within her. It was one thing to do it to her, Ino's rival, but to do it to Lee was going too far. Sakura marched over to the judge who was just about to go back to work and tapped her insistently on the shoulder.

"I don't think that was fair at all! Lee clearly ate _way_ more hotdogs than Ino and I combined." She thought for a second. "This wasn't a ninja techniques contest, it was a hotdog eating contest! And besides which… Ino used up more 'rest time' when she passed out." The last one caught everyone's attention, including Ino.

"Excuse me? Are you challenging the fact that I won?" the girl growled. "What, the little date-thing not enough for your jealous streak now?" Ino almost wanted to add, "When will you learn that I'm better than you?" but that sounded snotty, and not like in her darling Sasuke's way.

"Well, I think you should have to eat ten more hotdogs in order to win the contest! It's not fair that you used jutsu and didn't really actually eat anything."

"I ate _a lot_, thank you very much," Ino retorted. "And I thought we brought up the fact that _Lee_ had super speed!"

"Well… I didn't do any jutsu!"

"That's 'cause you're not a ninja!"

"Take that back!"

"It's true!"

"Take it _back_!"

"All right, all right," the judge lady (whose actual name I have learned is Juudi) intervened. "Honey, Pinky here has a point. Let's just see you eat ten more hotdogs." Ino blinked, and then full on gawked.

"Lady, are you _trying_ to get me to ruin my figure?" Juudi sighed and nodded her acknowledgement.

"Okay, okay. Five, then. Five more hotdogs." Ino groaned. She still had to eat… Sakura crossed her arms over her chest as she watched Ino eye the last five hotdogs she would probably consume in her entire lifetime. It wasn't as much as Sakura had asked for, but it would suffice. Suddenly an idea occurred to Ino. She still had one last trick up her… um… arm warmers.

"All right then…" she pretended to reach for the first hotdog, but before touching it she transitioned into–––

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Instantly the foodstuff was burnt into ashes, making it far easier for Ino to roll them all up into a small ball, swallow the bitter blackness, and down the rest of her water. The crowd cheered at her having outsmarted the competition yet _again_. Meanwhile, Sakura's mouth hung open in shock and defeat. That was _Sasuke's_ jutsu! How had a genin like Ino learned that? Had she really been holding out on her this hold time? Sakura groaned, but before she could say anything to the dainty blonde, Ino collapsed in a passed out heap. Ah. There you go: she had just run out of chakra.

The bowling place was in uproar as its new hero (poor Tenten, forgotten so quickly) seemed to be in critical condition. Even the said girl and her last watchers rushed over to the scene.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"What happened?"

"Is anyone here a medic-nin?" Sakura snapped out of her trance as one of the many rapid-fire questions stuck out to her. She pushed through the crowd.

"Me! I'm training to one day be a–––" She was ignored as a girl of about eighteen stepped out, feeling Ino's pulse and checking her vital signs. At last she told everyone that everything was okay, she just needed some rest. The crowd cheered and hailed this nurse-in-training to be the new bowling alley hero of the moment! What excitement!

"Well, this place is getting boring," Tenten sighed as she shifted the weight of the sleeping Shikamaru who, luckily, was lighter than Neji. Everyone else agreed. And so, they journeyed forth, two unconscious people, ironically from the same team, in their midst.

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"Hey, she's coming to!" That was the first thing Ino heard as she opened her eyes. Peering over her were the worried faces of her companions. She got up slowly and rubbed her head.

"Take it easy. We don't want you passing out again." It was Tenten, older sister to all who was closest to Ino and helping her to get up.

"What… what happened?" Ino asked as she rubbed her head. "I've got a killer headache… and I remember there was mist…"

"I told you she was awake for that, but would you guys listen? No…" Kiba frowned, his vague words hanging in the air. Someone coughed.

"Anyways, you lost _way_ too much chakra during the… contest. You should feel a little light-headed." Ino blinked.

"Tenten, since when do you know so much about medicine?"

"My dad's a doctor," she replied, seemingly surprised that Ino _didn't_ know that. The blonde girl shook her head.

"Wow. There's seriously so much I don't know about you…"

"Anyways, we decided to go get ice cream until you got up." This was Naruto, who sat comfortably across the girl in the booth gulping down a three-scoop vanilla and chocolate swirl ice cream. Next to him was the sleeping Shikamaru, and obviously Tenten was next to Ino. At the table nearest the booth sat Sakura and Lee, who were sharing a large chocolate slurpie-type-thing, Kiba and Hinata next to them sharing a sundae, and Neji sat by himself, pouting and scraping at Italian ice. Yeah, he's too cool for ice cream.

"Um… Okay," Ino said at last. "I'd get some, but I feel kinda sick…"

"S'okay. Sakura felt sick, too, but then _Lee_ offered to split something with her, and she just felt _so_ guilty about the whole hotdog thing…" Naruto crossed his arms and glared childishly.

"Um, Naruto? I'm right here! I can hear you," Sakura replied.

"Well then maybe you would let _me_ split something with you _instead_ of him!"

"You're already eating ice cream!" Sakura pointed out. Lee continued to say nothing as he was too busy with yet _another_ brain freeze. Poor guy. There were just some things he didn't get.

"So?" Naruto whined, then glanced at Ino. "Fine, then. Maybe _Ino_ and I can share something since she's so much better than you!"

"Oh, stop being immature!" Sakura grumped as she stuck out her tongue hypocritically.

"Geez, they're noisy," Kiba muttered when suddenly his and Hinata's spoons clinked together. He gasped. "Ack! I'm sorry! I'll go get another one if you want, or…" Hinata giggled a little.

"Kiba-kun, it's… it's okay." Really, he could overreact so _much_ sometimes. Okay, so it was kind of adorable, but really, what was she going to _do_ with a teammate like that? Oh, well. She bit into the banana thoughtfully and continued on her merry sundae-eating way.

"Isn't we supposed to be having a fiesta?" Lee randomly announced as conversation lulled. He was good at being the life of a part, apparently. At his declaration everyone remembered that they were, in fact, supposed to be having a fiesta and so they all got their party hats that Lee gave them on (yes, even Shikamaru and Neji) and started to fiesta the hardcore ice cream and ninja way!

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"Geez, that was some party…" Ino yawned as she stumbled into the house, grabbing the watering can to head into the store for late-night watering. Hey, plants like midnight snacks, too, y'know. As the kunoichi finished her rounds she glimpsed the almost-perfect pyramid of cards that lay untouched on her desk. With an almost guilty look she checked around to see if anyone could possibly be watching her. Then she quickly flipped over the card at the top of the pyramid: Venus flytrap. With a secretive smile Ino only knowledge of the future can bring Ino left for bed. Whether the Venus flytrap meant Chouji, who had a notoriously voracious appetite or Shino, whose penchant for insects was also renowned, was anyone but Ino's guess now.

**Woot! The Lee Chapter has been completed! I apologize to all the Rock Lee fans if I butchered his personality; honestly he's one of the hardest characters for me (I don't know why) But don't stop reading now that Lee's done with! We still have Chouji, Shino, Sasuke, and maybe even a little surprise I might slip in! Anyways, hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and will continue to enjoy them to the end of the story! **


	8. ShinoxIno: Part I

**Author's Note: Sorry I've been so bad about getting these in! I really do try, I swear! TT0TT **

**Disclaimer: Well… I may not own him, but he still loves me, right, Naruto?**

**Naruto plushie:** …Um…

**Me:** Well, I always have my new Sasuke plushie: )

"So _that's _what it meant," Ino mumbled aloud after Tenten drew the kunai with the name of today'slucky man on it.

"What?" Sakura asked, because she's nosy like that.

"Hm? Oh, nothing." Ino looked at her nails casually. "So, um, Hinata, I'm assuming you might have some sort of plan to help me out with this one?" Hinata looked about her, suddenly in the glare of the figurative limelight.

"Um… not… really," she admitted. "He barely talks to us as is."

"Well, that's just dandy," Ino said as she went to get up, swaying slightly. Tenten steadied her.

"Hey, are you all right?" She tossed her cup away before continuing. "I hope that fire jutsu didn't suck too much chakra out of you."

"Feh. She probably just hasn't eaten in days," Sakura murmured.

"Oh, please, Sakura. There's no need to be grotesque about how jealous you are of my gorgeous figure!" Ino laughed, flipping her hair.

"Jealous? I am not! See if I help you out next time you faint because of some stupid fire move that never works!"

"Um, one, Sakura, you didn't help her," Tenten pointed out.

"And two, I think it _did_ work, in case you didn't notice. Oh, and three, it's Sasuke-kun's, so there!" Ino stuck out her tongue, and Sakura did the same. Ah, pre-teens.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Tenten interrupted. "I think it's high time we headed to that portion of town. Hinata? Lead the way!" The pale-eyed girl nodded and walked in front of them reluctantly. On the way, the various members of the Ino's Ex-Dates Club joined them because it was just _customary_ by now. Except Lee. He was spending much needed quality time with his most favorite sensei in the world. Now, there are probably some of you out there who think this is just a convenient ploy by the author to avoid putting Lee any further in the story. Well, I for one am outraged. Don't you think they need time together after all the running around they've been doing?

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"LEEEE!" Gai cried out as he embraced his favorite student in the entire youthful universe.

"GAI-SENSEI!" There was much crying and laughter as the two marched off to the horizon, hearts firmly set on expressing their collective youthfulness. See? Told you.

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"So, why did everybody come with me to drop off Akamaru?" Kiba asked at last as they stood before the _massive_, scary-looking doors of the Aburame compound. Everyone blinked at him.

"Um… He's Ino's next date," Tenten replied.

"Yeah, duh!" Naruto said randomly, just because he liked to confirm his existence for everyone else every now and then.

"Wait, you're actually–– I mean, you're seriously…?" Kiba looked around, and Akamaru made a noise like a shocked bark.

"Yes…" Ino explained patiently, although she wasn't even half so confident this would work out. "Shino counts, Kiba. But, um… Anyways, I need you and Hinata to come with me."

"Oh, and me!" Sakura announced, volunteering herself. The blonde girl gave her a weird look.

"How do _you_ possibly know anything about Shino?"

"I don't," Sakura said. "Actually, I don't think anyone does. But aside from that, I'm the official… official… um, I make sure you're doing it right!" She placed her hands on her hips determinedly.

"Okay, whatever. But I can't say this will be simple."

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"How do you think they're doing in there?" Tenten spoke up. "Oh, and draw two, Neji."

"Curses," he muttered, picking up two Uno cards from the deck. "Agh! Why do I always get sixes?"

"Heh heh, Neji's the devil," Naruto giggled.

"Oh, shut up, Naruto!"

"Ooo, somebody's getting their hair in a kno–––"

"Jyuken!" With that Naruto was smacked across the street and hit a building. "I can't believe I was defeated by that loser…"

"Geez, Neji, now you've upset the card game!" Tenten looked at his hand briefly. "Weird, you _did_ have an Anti-Christ hand…"

"And he has a swastika on his forehead!" Naruto exclaimed, popping up and acting like he wasn't affected at all by the deadly blow.

"I do not," Neji hissed. While Naruto continued to taunt Neji, Tenten gathered up the cards and looked towards the eerie mansions of the Aburames. She prayed fervently that everybody was okay in there.

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"Ew! It touched me!" Sakura squealed as a millipede crawled past her leg and barely brushed her.

"Geez, Sakura, it's only a bug," Ino managed, but even as she said it she was _this_ close to running away and screaming. If it weren't for the sheer terror of her ex-best friend, Ino would've shown her own without restraint. As it was, the blonde girl now found herself in a position to act as a sort of leader. Well, co-leader, as Kiba was there.

"Okay, then we turn this way…" the boy was muttering, Hinata at his arm, her face cast down. This place didn't scare her as much as it used to. Sure, it was crawling with bugs, dark, deadly silent, and a paranormal mist seemed to shroud the entire compound, but after few times… All right, who am I joking? Hinata was pretty darn scared.

"Are you sure you aren't lost?" Ino asked after twenty minutes of walking about the homes that seemed deserted.

"Of course I'm sure! I'd recognize his scent anywhere!" Kiba pouted, insulted at the lack of faith in his canine abilities.

"Um, Kiba-kun? I thought you said… that Aburames all p-pretty much smell the same." Kiba blinked at Hinata's observant remark, then scratched the back of his head and laughed.

"Hey… Yeah, I _did_ say that, didn't I? So…"

"WE _ARE_ LOST!" Sakura and Ino screamed in answer, but much to their horror the screams echoed back for many minutes in the emptiness of the Aburame living quarters.

"We'll never get out of here! Nevernevernever! We're doomed!" Sakura cried, sinking to her knees. "I never even got my first kiss! Granted, I almost did by Naruto-who-looked-like-Sasuke, but still!"

"Oh, calm down, we are _not_ going to die…" Ino muttered, biting her lip nervously. She _wished_ Sakura would die, though. On her shoulder Akamaru licked her cheek comfortingly, and she stroked his head until she remembered her experience as a dog, and then shook the poor guy off. "Hey, no freebies pal!" Akamaru whined a bit, and then stalked over to Kiba.

"Well, at times like this we Harunos have a secret jutsu that finds our desired destination with ease," Sakura boasted, dusting herself off suddenly. "Stand aside! Does anyone have a stick?" Kiba quickly fetched one, and the irony was not lost on anybody... except maybe Sakura.

"Okay, here we go…" Sakura squatted by the stick, holding it upright with one hand, and forming a handseal with the other. She sat there, concentrating, letting her chakra flow into the branch, and finally followed this by quick, skilled one-handed

handsigns. She took a breath.

"Find-the-Exit no Jutsu!" She cried and then… let the stick fall. It collapsed in the dust with a _plop_.

"That way," Sakura deadpanned, indicating the direction the tree limb was pointing to. It took her companions a few seconds to come around.

"That's the dumbest jutsu ever! You just let the stick fall!" Ino snorted. "_Anyone_ could have done that!"

"Well, yeah, now that you've _seen_ me do it," Sakura rolled her eyes. "But that would make you a copycat, and copying is the sincerest form of flattery, y'know."

"Kill me now…" Ino groaned, rubbing her forehead. Sometimes it just didn't pay to argue.

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"…So then I said, 'Seriously, Sasuke––– try it on!' And then he punched me, but you should've seen the _look_ on his face!" Naruto guffawed, and Tenten laughed politely, more to liven up the atmosphere than anything. Neji sat against the wall, away from them, and glared as he played Uno solitaire. He wasn't about to forgive Naruto for his little insults quite yet.

"Shut up…" Neji muttered aloud, using his Byakugan to cheat… against himself. Well, it _was_ a habit. At any rate, the game was progressing along… until someone caught up to the group.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, despite the fact that he really didn't want to know because whatever he was doing (which was walking, looking for them) was _so _much better than what they were doing.

"Hey, it's Sasuke-afro! Haven't seen you in a while! Guess what? I bet you didn't know that I got to date your–––!"

"_HEY_, Sasuke! How've things been with you?" Tenten laughed as she clamped her hand over Naruto's mouth, and attempted to hold him still while he struggled. "Fancy meeting you here… outside of the Aburames' compound…"

"Um, sure," Sasuke said, digging his hands into his pristine-despite-all-the-training-he-was-supposedly-doing shorts and shrugging. Neji watched the interaction with little interest, snorting slightly. Where did this guy come off with that attitude?

"Well, looks like you were going somewhere! It was nice seeing you! Bye now!" Tenten added, getting up and trying to push the boy away, knowing that the entire dare could be off if he got a word of what was going on. Having a loudmouth like Naruto around was no help. Sasuke shoved her hands away, a natural reaction from his millions of fangirls constantly molesting him.

"Actually, I wanted to see what you were doing," he said a little gruffly. "What's going on?" It took one slightly pouty look from the boy to do the trick. Tenten was struck by Sasuke Sickness, and blushed uncontrollably.

"Ah! Well, then I guess you could join us. Y'know, we were just talking and stuff… Say, what's your favorite color, by the way?" The bunned girl turned to go sit down again, holding her warm cheeks, confused why a mere look from him would get her to get so excited. All right, so she wasn't confused in the least. However, she _was _smart enough to remember the rule that you only really know a person if you know their favorite color. Try it; it works.

"It's yel–– I mean, none of your business." The spiky-haired boy replied, clearly not used to being nice to people. At all. Unfortunately, neither was Neji, who abruptly threw down his cards.

"Kami-sama, you're such a nuisance," Neji growled, dusting himself off and giving Sasuke one of his patented Hyuuga glares.

"Excuse me?" Sasuke's eye twitched slightly. "How about you _repeat_ that." The air crackled with tension. Seriously, Tenten's hair was starting to frizz.

"I _said_," Neji breathed, every word a fearsome stab. "You. Are. Such. A. _Nuisance_." He wanted to say other things about Sasuke, but that would mean the rating of the story would have to go up, and besides which, Neji had better language control than _that_.

"All right, that's it! Fight me!" Sasuke growled, clearly having no patience for mockery in any form.

"Wait–– What?" Tenten managed, looking around, confused.

"I accept," the pale-eyed boy snarled. Neji struck up his Hyuuga fighting stance and glared menacingly, Byakugan already activated.

"WHY?" Tenten asked, giving Neji a look that said, "Are you _nuts_?"

"I've had enough of his 'Holier-than-thou' attitude, and I'm not above knocking him down a few pegs," Neji smirked, tightening his fingers together.

"Neji, you have the _same_ attitude," Tenten pointed out, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, but _I'm_ bett–––"

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Fire spewed everywhere and Tenten and Neji ducked quickly.

"That's cheating!" Neji growled, picking himself up and running to the left.

"Be ready, then," Sasuke smirked from behind him, and threw out a net of chakra string. Neji, fortunately for his fangirls, was smart enough to see this coming and did a back handspring to the side just in time. Sasuke cursed and sped away from Neji as he moved to hit him with a powerful Jyuken blow.

"Wow, I just realized those guys have never fought before… and I just realized why! HEY, GUYS!" Tenten called frantically, waving her arms. "Guys, you're destroying everything!" Sure enough, trees were getting burned down, fences whacked aside, and the occasional passer-by wouldn't live to see another day. No, I'm kidding, they all lived. Except that one squirrel...

"LISTEN TO ME!" Finally the girl got tired enough of being ignored that she pulled out a scroll and started hurtling kunai, shuriken, axes, knives, sickles, and every other possible weapon to distract the battling boys. Unfortunately, they were better ninja than her by far, and dodged everything _as well as_ each other. Wow, that's some focused arrogance right there…

"What––is––your––problem!" Neji hissed as he dodged, managing to ram Sasuke in the side and causing the rare sight of "Sasuke Spitting Up Blood as He Gets Beat Up Like a Wuss." Which, of course, didn't last for long because Sasuke had a buncha other tricks up his sleeve…arm warmer… Like that tripwire Neji didn't know was there!

"AGH!" Neji tripped over the wire, sprawling right on his face.

"Shishi Rendan!"

"Ah, crud," Neji growled as he looked up to see Sasuke come flying out of the sky ready to pound the other male into oblivion. With few seconds to spare, Neji had but one option…

**Homigosh! Cliffy! All right, so I lied. It's not just about Ino… but at any rate, I decided to split up the Shino chapter because he OWNS ALL OF YOU! That, and I figured you guys didn't want to have to read a _reeeeeally_ long chapter, even if it did have Shino-ness. You know the drill: you like, tell me; you hate… um, tell me, too! **


	9. ShinoxIno: Part II

**Author's Note: WHOOT! Parteh, man! I cleared 50 reviews! And 3,000 hits! I love you guys TToTT Also, a lot of you guys apparently liked the whole Neji vs. Sasuke thing. I'll try my best to make my fighting scenes live up to your expectations!**

**Disclaimer: A wise man once said that Labbess should own Naruto **

**Sasuke: **Yeah, but I bet that man wasn't Kishimoto

**Me: **Don't you have a fight or something?

"Now we're _definitely_ lost!" Ino growled at Sakura, pointing accusingly. "And all because of your stupid made-up jutsu!"

"Hey, don't diss the Haruno jutsu! That's been passed down for generations!"

"Um… Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked quietly, tugging on her comrade's sleeve.

"Yeah?" Kiba's eyes lit up at the attention; anything was better than a catfight… Well, _that_ catfight. Hinata looked about nervously and cupped her hand around her mouth, and Kiba had to bend down slightly to hear her well enough.

"Um, um… W-we've been going in the wrong direction f-for twenty minutes…" Hinata chewed at her lip self-consciously, and then added, "I was t-tracking the outside with m-my Byakugan…" Now, had it been anyone else, someone might've yelled at the poor girl for not saying something _earlier_! However, seeing as though it was Hinata, anyone with a heart would say…

"Wow, Hinata! You're so smart!" Ino exclaimed once she was settled down enough to listen.

"Isn't she?" Kiba asked, seeming excited for no real apparent reason.

"Why didn't she just tell us that _earlier_?" Sakura whined. See? No heart. "Then we wouldn't have wasted so much time!"

"Well, _someone_ wanted to use their stupid jutsu!" Ino snapped.

"It's not stupid!"

"Yes, it is!"

"Shut up…"

"Well, you shut u–– Huh?" The group turned to face none other than the man of the hour, Shino himself.

"Sh-Shino! How long have you been standing there?" Ino exclaimed, clearly suffering from heart attack-like symptoms.

"Oh, he's been here for about two minutes," Kiba said, wiggling his nose slightly. "No, wait, make that three… no… We'll just say two and a half?"

"Why didn't you _tell_ us, Kiba?" Sakura asked, throwing her hands up into the air. "Is your entire team lacking in the communication department?" She and Ino stared at Team 8, composed of a dog, an Aburame who rarely spoke, a shy, stuttering Hyuuga, and the over-excited Inuzuka. That pretty much answered the question.

"Can I ask… why all of you are trespassing on my family's property?" Shino muttered in a steely, emotionless voice.

"Well, see, it may sound crazy, but here's the idea…" Kiba began with a laugh, and then launched into the reason why they were all there in the first place.

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"Hahaha–– This is hilarious! Where's a camera when you need one?" Naruto laughed, rolling around in the street while he held his sides. "Priceless! This is almost as good as the afro!"

"Naruto, enough," Tenten sighed as she toyed with one of her fallen weapons.

"But _look _at them!" Tenten did, and could not deny that what she saw was a rather pathetic if not amusing sight. She just didn't want to admit that and have two very angry, strong ninja on her tail later. But for now… She shook her head and placed her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.

Here's a little recap…

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"Shishi Rendan!" Sasuke's foot neared ever closer to Neji's face, and in matter of moments the Hyuuga boy would find himself with a very nasty imprint. Not. Neji rolled to the side and thrust his hand upwards, knocking Sasuke away with a powerful force of chakra. The spiky, raven-crowned boy was tossed aside and skidded across the street briefly before flipping back onto his feet.

"What the heck?" He muttered, spitting out _more_ blood and wiping his chin. He grasped his bruised side.

"Please! Everyone knows that's a knock-off of Lee's move." Neji smirked. "Care to remind me who has been training with and beaten Lee several times since Day 1?" Realization sparked in Sasuke's eyes.

"…oh," he managed, amazed at his own rare stupidity. The Uchiha hadn't seen that one coming, and now he was paying the price, pain shooting through him as Neji got into his stance again. On the upside…

_Just wait 'til I get through with you… Do you have any _idea_ how hard it is to make my hair look this good every stinkin' day_? Alas, the crowning glory of the Hyuuga male was partially crisped and dirt clung to it, as well as it being matted with sweat. Not to mention burns and bruises elsewhere. Suddenly both boys' sharpened ninja senses told them to look up, but too late…

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The two were surrounded by Naruto clones, and instantly tried to fight their way out of the orange mass. However, they were so tired from fighting each other, it was no use…

"U! ZU! MA! KI!" Two clones attacked Sasuke and Neji. "Naruto Rendan!" Five minutes later, the clones disappeared in a puff of smoke, and there lay Neji and Sasuke, bound with ropes and ducktape over their mouths, squirming pitifully. They'll never learn…

"Naruto!" Tenten managed after she got over the shock. She floundered for a second, but then added, "How long were you up in those trees?"

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"Hey! Look! The exit!" Sakura screeched with joy, running full blast to the rusty iron gates. "FREEDOM!"

"Is she… always like this?" Shino managed, pushing his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose with his forefinger. Being less than social as he was he had probably already forgotten Sakura's name.

"Yes," everyone else deadpanned. "She is."

"So…" Ino mumbled, not looking directly at Shino. "Um…"

"…yes?" He asked, giving her a stoic, covered-up look.

"Nevermind!" Ino laughed, waving her hand in dismissal and marching out the creaky gates with the rest of the gang. Shino didn't even bother to give a response to that.

"_OWWW_!" Everyone looked up as they exited from the possibly haunted Aburame community to see Neji grasping his mouth and tearing up while Tenten held a piece of ducktape and tried to restrain Neji.

"See? Now what have we learned today?" She was saying when she caught sight of everybody and let the boy go immediately. "I mean, uh… Naruto, you idiot!"

"What'd I do? I mean, other than get out ducktape and–––OW! You hit like Sakura!" The blonde boy cried.

"_What _happened here? WAIT!" Sakura paused and sniffed the air, eyes almost glowing a scary red color.

"I smell… Sasuke," she croaked in a demented voice. "Where is he?"

"Um… that way?" Tenten pointed in a random direction, and to everyone's surprise, the pink-haired girl took off running and screaming some kind of high-pitched war whoop. Don't… don't ask…

"Wait, Sakura-chan! You _always_ abandon me for Sasuke!" Naruto ran after the girl, clearly hurt.

"Well, that was––" Kiba began when _Neji_ randomly took off running!

"I'll kill him!" was all that could be heard as the Hyuuga male took off at a dead sprint.

"Neji, what are you doing?" Tenten cried frantically, and of course she had to run after him. It was silent for a few minutes.

"D… don't let him h–hurt N–N–Naruto-kun!" Hinata squeaked pitifully and dashed after Tenten.

"Wha––_Hinata_!" Naturally Kiba had to chase after her, Akamaru close at his heels.

"G–– guys! Where are you…?" Ino trailed off and a gust of wind whisked off her words into silence. She spun around to Shino and stood there awkwardly.

"Uh…?" More silence. Finally Shino shrugged, turned, and started walking away.

"Hey, wait!" Ino ran up to catch up with him (apparently he covers distance well). "You can't leave me!"

"Why… not?"

"Because we have to go on a date!" Ino yelled, fists clenched. Seriously, couldn't anyone do anything right today? Shino stopped and stared in surprise, although Ino couldn't tell one of his emotions from the other, but turned away and continued walking again.

"Hey! I thought I told you–––"

"You don't want to date me. Trust me," he cut her off quickly. It was Ino's turn to be surprised.

"Wha…?"

"You don't want to date me. I know. You don't have to." He took a breath. "I'll tell Sakura we went somewhere… Now if you'll excuse me, I have some errands to run." Ino stood there, dumbfounded… and guilty. Had she just sensed sadness? The blonde shook her head. It didn't matter. Yamanaka Ino, soon to be Uchiha Ino, did not back down from a challenge, even if it meant biting the bullet sometimes…

"Hey!" Ino ran up to him and suddenly grabbed the boy's hand, looking all the world like the stubborn boar she was.

"What are you–––?" Shino tried to pull away, but her grip was tight.

"I said we were going on a date, didn't I?" Ino grinned, confusing Shino even more than he was already. "Now what were those errands you had to do?"

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"Agh! I missed it again!" Ino cried as she hopped about.

"You might… want to start at the lower branches," Shino said as he plucked a few leaves off the tree in front of him.

"But… you said that the best leaves are farther away! I can't let those bugs have a mediocre meal just because I'm lazy!" Ino jumped and barely was able to balance herself on the tree branch.

"Be careful," Shino warned, still wondering why the girl had decided to join him in the first place. He looked at his hand briefly, still a bit stunned, and then looked back at Ino.

"Almost… there…" Ino swung up, dropping leaves as she went which Shino hastily collected.

"I don't think…"

"Ha! Here we go!" Ino cried triumphantly, bouncing from tree limb to tree limb. "Wow, I didn't think I went so––––hiiiiiiiiiiiiigh!" Ino slipped on one of the branches and found herself hurtling towards the ground. Bracing herself, the girl tried to make a handseal with her hands to concentrate her chakra flow to her feet, but it was no good. _Whumf_!

"O–ow…" Ino rubbed her head and opened one eyes, flinching. For some reason she hadn't been completely flatten–––

"Do you…mind?" Came a murmur from underneath her.

"Sh–Shino!" Ino blushed and got up immediately, dusting herself off. She offered him a hand up, which he accepted.

"Omigosh, I am _so_ sorry! I was in the tree and it–– and then––" Ino found herself turning red under the cool gaze of the boy. "Um, yeah…" Suddenly Ino began to giggle. It started out small and hidden, but as she grew more and more aware of the situation she ended up laughing out loud. Eventually she found that all her embarrassment had slipped away.

"Sor… sorry…" She managed at last as she wiped a tear from her eyes. "

"It's…" The boy paused, then added, "Are you… okay?" Instead of waiting for a response Shino pushed up his sunglasses and picked up the bag of leaves.

"Yeah, anyways…" Ino cleared her throat. "Um… thanks. Sorry about that." Shino shrugged.

"I need to get these to the bugs," he said.

"Right!" Ino nodded. "Your cousin's bug collection. I haven't forgotten. Here." She picked up part of the bag.

"You don't need–––"

"Geez, this thing is heavy!" Ino grunted slightly. "How many leaves did we get?"

"You don't need to help me with it." Ino stared at Shino for a moment, then laughed again.

"Of course I need to help you with it! You can't go through life doing everything on your own." Shino blinked behind his dark glasses. Had she just…? She looked away. This was all so strange… _she_ was very strange. The Aburame boy glanced in her direction again, and sighed. This was going to be a long day after all.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"…and that should be the last one!" Ino breathed with relief, placing the leaves inside the caterpillars' cage. "Wow… One day they'll be butterflies…"

"Monarch butterflies… to be exact," the little girl who was dressed rather similarly to Shino muttered.

"Really? I'm afraid I don't know a lot about insects." The child made a gasping noise then covered it up with a yawn.

"Momoka, I think it's time for your nap," Shino murmured from behind Ino.

"Oh…" The girl sighed and walked towards the house. "Thank you, Shino–niisan, Ino-san." She bowed before leaving the two. A hush came over the room filled with cages of insects.

"Your little cousin was really cute," Ino announced as they collected their things to leave once again. Shino shrugged it off. "I didn't know you helped out with that sort of thing."

"I'm… training to be the next clan leader," he admitted. "Helping out with the family…" He felt a little shy revealing this; he didn't tell things to many people.

"Really? That's awesome!" Ino replied enthusiastically as they stepped outside. "It really is a beautiful area once you know where to look."

"Healthy vegetation attracts insects…"

"Hey! That's right!" Ino snapped her fingers. "I know a ton of plants that attract different types of butterflies; maybe I can come over some time and plant them!" Shino was tempted to show his surprise, but instead he whispered, "That would be much appreciated."

"So it's a deal, then!" Ino smiled, holding out her hand. Shino glanced at it for a second warily, and then shook it lightly. "So, where to now?" Her companion pulled out his list of duties he had carried with them all day, and perused it quickly.

"I think… we've got everything done." He was about to put away the slip of paper again when Ino suddenly snatched it out of his hands.

"What's this?" She pointed to the last line that wasn't crossed out. "'Dancing Lights'… What's that?"

"Oh. You wouldn't… be interested in that," Shino mumbled as they came to the gates. "It's… far from here."

"No! I really want to know!" Ino insisted, startling even herself. "I mean… it sounds like a lot of fun…"

"It's not exactly what you would call fun…" Shino sighed as he took note of Ino's begging expression. "If you want to come, though…"

"YES!" Ino yelled, punching the air. Shino immediately hushed her; Aburames, after all, do not have a penchant for noise. Usually, anyways…

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"That was really good! Man, your mom can cook!" Ino sighed with satisfaction as she got up from finishing her bento. "That omelet especially… Hey, can you cook like that?" They ere walking along a pathway that seemed somehow familiar to Ino, but she couldn't place it.

"Occasionally," the ever–mysterious Shino replied. "We're almost there."

"Really? I'm so excited!" Ino squealed, and then clapped her hand over her mouth. "Sorry, I'm a bit hyper."

"I see."

"Heh heh, yeah… It's kinda getting dark, isn't it? Geez, I didn't realize it was so late." Ino looked up, and was about to say something more when all of a sudden she gasped. "This… this is…" She blinked, and took in the sight. "This is the field of flowers Akamaru took me to!" She laughed in amazement.

"I knew Kiba was following me," Shino muttered to himself, but Ino didn't hear.

"This is fantastic!" The blonde girl ran into the blossoms and danced around. "They look even more beautiful at night!"

"I suppose…" Shino offered, then suddenly looked alert. "It's time."

"Time…?" Ino all of a sudden found herself surrounded by millions of glowing green lights coming up from the flowers, intermingling with the night sky. Shino walked over and stood beside the girl, taking in the sight.

"What… are they?" Ino managed.

"Fireflies," Shino whispered simply, as if saying any more would taint their beauty. The flecks of light continued to spin about the two, and it was a while before Ino was able to break the spell. Somehow, though, she managed to.

"Did… did you find this place?" Shino nodded. "What is it called?"

"Called?" The boy regarded his companion in a perplexed manner.

"Yeah. Doesn't it have a name?"

"Oh. Yes. It's called… " Shino took a breath. "Field of Dancing Lights." Immediately he turned away, apparently embarrassed at such a title.

"Field of Dancing Lights," Ino repeated, grinning. "That's beautiful. Very… poetic." Shino looked up.

"You… think so?"

"I know so," the girl assured him. The Aburame boy stood there quietly for a second, and then, unbeknownst to Ino, gave a secret, covered up smile. Quickly, however, it disappeared and he adjusted his glasses.

"Hey, look!" Ino shouted abruptly, pointing up to the velvety star-studded heavens. "A shooting star! Make a wish!" Instantly Ino's eyes were closed as she did just that, whatever her wish was, she seemed earnest about it. Shino blinked as the white ball blazed above him, knowing he only had a few seconds. Taking a breath, the boy closed his eyes and wished. There was a peace that fell in upon the field.

"Should I… tell you what I wished for?" Shino asked awkwardly, clearly unused to that sort of thing. Ino gasped in horror.

"NO! Absolutely not!" Shino was taken aback at her intensity. "You can't ever do that! Then it won't come true."

"…oh." Shino thought for a moment. "Am I… allowed to think about it?"

"Of course," Ino giggled. "Yes. Think about telling it to me." She smiled. "Maybe one day both our wishes will come true?"

"Maybe," Shino agreed, but in his head he was saying something else. He could picture it clearly.

_"Shino, what did you wish for_?_" Ino was asking, the same smile upon her lips_.

_"Well…" He answered, hesitant. _

_"Please_?_"_

_"I suppose…" He took an inner breath_. _"I wished… for many more nights, just like this one. With you."_

**Sorry, I know it's kind of a sappy ending, but I thought it would be okay because it was Shino, and he just rules. Are you guys ready for Chouji, who's next chapter (I'm assuming you guys all figured that out)? I'll be working on it! You guys just read and review. Until next chapter…**


	10. ChoujixIno

**Author's Note: Wow! I am SO sorry I haven't been able to update my story in so long! Thank you, readers of "Ramen," for continuing to put up with my delays! Also, someone put this fic as one of their top 5 favorite fics on a forum! It made me so happy! But enough yammering, time to get your date on!**

**Disclaimer: Gaara thinks Labbess should own Naruto, so you should, too!**

**Gaara:** No, I don't

**Me: **Yes, you do

**Gaara:** No, I don't

**Me: **No, you don't

**Gaara:** Yes, I do–––wait, snap! Cursed Jedi mind tricks…

Akimichi Chouji had been a lonely boy even as a small child. He wasn't as active as Naruto or Kiba, or as handsome as Sasuke, or as awesome as Shino, or even as indifferent as Shikamaru. No, Chouji was merely fat and, although he knew he should be proud of his clan's special trait, he knew deep inside that he would never score any girls or even have many friends because his weight marked him as a "loser" in their eyes. And so, a few years later, despite the fact that he had eventually learned how to make friends Chouji found himself all alone again.

At first it wasn't anything big. Ino was spending a day with the other kunoichi because they had the week off, and even though it made him sad not to see her, the chubby boy still had his best friend Shikamaru to hang with. Then, little by little, it began to happen. Chouji and Naruto were looking for Kiba to play some new game he had gotten recently, but the Inuzuka boy was nowhere to be found. This was fine and dandy because Chouji didn't really know Kiba all that well and he had gotten to go to IHOR with Shikamaru, but then all too soon, horror of horrors, _Shikamaru_ was gone! This greatly disturbed Chouji as he had been told _nothing_ of Shikamaru's absence (not that he normally was told anything; Shikamaru just… wasn't absent. Ever) Naruto had suggested a movie, but nothing would console the boy.

Not long after, Naruto had gone missing, too! Despite Chouji's pleadings Shikamaru would say nothing of what he had been up to, although apparently it had to do greatly with Ino. The day Naruto disappeared, Chouji had seen him at a café eating with Sakura who seemed to be _forcing_ him to sit with her! _Forcing_! The next morning the Akimichi boy could see him flirting with Ino in the flower shop! Then Shikamaru vanished again, and even Gai's team wasn't around! The only people around that he knew were Shino and Sasuke, and he shuddered to think of hanging out with either one. This was all too much for a growing boy like himself to handle! He thought he might go mad with curiosity! And then… she came. Just like an angel. She flipped back her long, velvety hair that the boy had admired for so long, parted her lips in a smile, and said, "Chouji, we're going on a date."

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"Chouji? Chouji?"

"Try cold water!"

"Right. Does anyone know a water jutsu?" Somewhere in the blackness voices were echoing.

"I think Sasuke-kun knows one!"

"Sakura, Sasuke knows _fire_ jutsu."

"Right, right!"

"Hey, we could always use the Dynamic Marking!"

"Kiba, that's disgusting!"

"Well, I tried…."

"Maybe the Jyuuken…"

"Neji, don't even think about it."

"H–h–here, I b–brought the water!"

"Hey, good job, Hinata!"

"Ah, ah––– Na–Na–Na–Naruto-kun! Th–th–thank y–you…"

"Hey, wait, what are you–––?"

"YOU MUST SPILL THE WATER IN A YOUTHFUL MANNER, MY COMPANIONS!!!"

"GAH!" Chouji awoke suddenly and violently.

"Chouji! You're awake!" Ino cried close beside him.

"Yeah… Ow. My head. What happened?"

"You fainted," Sakura deadpanned, suddenly behind Ino.

"I did?"

"Yeah."

"LEE!" Tenten yelled from the other side of the Kage Burger. "Are you nuts? You could've killed somebody flinging a bucket like that!"

"Seriously, Lee, what were you _thinking_?" Kiba chimed in, and Naruto, not to be outdone, added, "Yeah! What they said!" The green–clad boy stood there looking side to side, eyes wide with guilt. It took a certain pink-haired girl to give the dagger a final stab.

"Really, I'm surprised at you," Sakura said with a frown. "That was just plain dangerous."

"I…" Tears formed in the boy's eyes and, as he fell to his knees and leaned backwards, moistened his eyebrows. "I am most apologetic! I merely meant to awake Chouji with the spirit of Youthful Passionate Water Spilling! FORGIVE ME, OH ONE WHOM I LIVE FOR, MY DAINTY BLOSSOM!"

"All right, all right," Sakura said hastily. "You're forgiven already!"

"Sakura-chan, surely you are the most magnificent and gracious woman to forgive one like––!"

"Okay, enough!" the girl shouted, then gave an exasperated sigh.

"Um… so what's going on?" Chouji asked randomly as he managed to get up. All attention was immediately reverted back to him. Everyone looked at each other.

"Nose game!" Someone shouted. They all immediately responded, and even Chouji put his finger on his nose, just in case.

"Wait, wha…?" Neji, naturally, was the only one who didn't know how the game was played. Actually, Lee didn't know either, but he thought it would be fun to put his finger on his nose like everyone else, so he did.

"Neji, you have to explain," Tenten told him.

"What? Why?"

"Because you didn't put your finger on your nose."

"_Why_ would I put my finger on my nose?" Neji seemed very confused.

"Because that's how the nose game is played!" Tenten groaned in frustration.

"I don't get it." He said at length. "But what I do get is that that's not right. Or cool. And I would know; I'm both." Neji crossed his arms over his chest to somehow prove his point.

"Neji, just tell him already!" Ino demanded, clearly losing patience. "It makes sense since you were there from the beginning anyways."

"But so were you!"

"_Neji_…"

"_Fine_."

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"…and so that's why Branch House members are greater than Main House members," the boy finished an hour later, flipping some of his dark locks behind his shoulder. "Any questions?" Chouji raised his hand. Neji stared at him for a bit, then finally pointed to the boy.

"Chouji?"

"Um… yeah, I kinda tuned out after 'speaking of Hinata,'" the Akimichi youth admitted.

"Well, that's all you needed to know anyways," Tenten butted in quickly before her teammate could continue.

"…oh. Okay." Chouji thought for a second. "So Ino and I are… go… go… g–go… going… _going_…!"

"Whoa, don't hurt yourself, man!" Kiba laughed, and naturally Naruto joined in. Peas in a pod, I tell ya'.

"Yes, Chouji. We're going out," Ino smiled, resting her hand on his shoulder in a friendly manner. He thought that spot would burst into flames it felt so warm.

"For the day, at least," the blonde girl added.

"So where are we going, anyway?" Naruto whined from where he had fallen asleep during Neji's lecture.

"Yeah, seriously," Tenten agreed for no particular reason. Chouji turned away and smiled.

"This day… I thought it would never come…" he murmured.

"Lemme guess," Kiba yawned. "All-you-can-eat buffet?"

"No!" Chouji snapped, standing up and startling everyone. "No, today I, Akimichi Chouji, will take Yamanaka Ino… to the aquarium!" Everyone blinked.

"Oooh, I get it. Like sushi, right?" Sakura said brightly.

"No, like the aquarium," Chouji responded. Everybody blinked again.

"Ah, CRAP!" Kiba whined, falling to the ground. "If I had _known_ that I would've brought Akamaru! I figured you'd choose some restaurant dogs weren't allowed in…" Kiba crossed his arms and glared at his feet.

"It's… all right, Kiba-kun. I-if you want to get him you can," Hinata offered sweetly from beside him, a look of concern on her face. Kiba got up immediately and started acting like a man again.

"Hm, what? Oh, um, I meant that it's too bad Akamaru isn't here to enjoy the fishes! Oh, well. He's at the Doggy Daycare anyways." He laughed it off, but inside he really _did_ want his best pal with him. He just didn't want to act a like a wuss and start crying about it in front of _certain people_ (a.k.a., Naruto)

And it was with this that the group began on their journey to the aquarium that most were not aware even existed in the first place. On the way, however, they made a small pit stop…

"I can't believe you're bringing Shikamaru," Ino sighed, shaking her head.

"It's for moral support," the lazy brunette replied with a shrug. Ino glared at him.

"And I can't believe you're making him push you in a wheelbarrow!" she exclaimed. He shrugged again. Chouji smiled sheepishly from behind the red wheelbarrow.

"What can I say?" Shikamaru asked.

"Nothing," Ino sighed, finally just walking away. The boy exchanged a puzzled glance with Chouji. They would never understand their teammate.

"She doesn't like me…" Chouji sighed as he wheeled his best friend to where everyone else waited patiently. Shikamaru smirked.

"Chouji, the trick is not to think about it," he replied, as if he had so much experience with women... Which, actually, he did, albeit most of the time he was fighting them.

"Really?" Chouji asked breathlessly, gazing at Ino longingly.

"Yeah, just think about something you like–– something that'll keep you happy and preoccupied." Shikamaru paused, then added, "You can even say stuff out loud if it helps."

"Wow!" Chouji sighed. "Gee, thanks, Shikamaru! You're so smart…"

"Any time," the Nara boy replied. In truth, he just really liked being wheeled about.

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"So I guess we never got to find out what happened on Ino an' Shino's date, huh?" Naruto asked randomly to his part of the group as they walked along the road. Kiba, near him, nodded.

"That's a good point. I haven't seen Shino at all recently." Hinata affirmed this.

"That's weird. Then again, he is a weird guy," the blonde boy pointed out. All of a sudden, Naruto got a devilish glint in his eye, which, of course, is _never_ good when it comes to Naruto. He looked to the front of the group.

"Hey, Ino, have you seen Shino?" The girl looked back with a raised eyebrow.

"Um, no, I haven't seen Shino."

"What's that Ino? You haven't seen Shino? Not even in Reno winning money at the casino?"

"Getting' hit over the bean-o with a heavy coin machine-o after leaving the latrine-o for another change of scene-o and a decaf cappuccino?" Kiba added, at which point he and Naruto high-fived and burst out laughing at their dumb joke. Everyone else groaned, except Hinata, who happened to be walking between the two.

"If you guys don't shut up, I'm ripping out your spleen-o's," Sakura growled, speaking pretty much for everyone.

"Aw, Sakura-chan, why'a gotta be like that?" Naruto whined. Lee would have said something had Lee been there, but unfortunately the said boy was running back and forth from the aquarium at topspeed because… if he did it 5,000 times, then Sakura would surely love him!

"Hello, Sakura-chan, my goddess!" he cried as he did another lap. The pink-haired girl groaned.

"Lee, enough of that!" she snapped.

"Of course, my wonderful Sakura-chan! I will do whatever you please!"

"Anybody _else_ feel like jumping off a bridge?" Ino asked, combing the loose blonde hair that fell across her face. Neji made a motion to raise his hand, but thought the better of it.

"Chouji, how much longer until we get there?" Tenten asked from the back to verify her presence. She would have asked Lee, but he was off on another lap.

"…and cakes––cakes! Strawberry cakes, blueberry cakes, chocolate cakes…"

"Chouji!" Tenten shouted impatiently. "Hey, Chouji!"

"…fudge cakes, red velvet cakes, seven-flavored cakes…"

"CHOUJI!"

"Chouji, I think you can stop now. Tenten's calling you," Shikamaru finally spoke up.

"Hm? What, Shikamaru?" Chouji paused in pushing the wheelbarrow and naming his favorite things to turn around, "Sorry, Tenten–– What were you saying?"

"Nevermind…" she replied, for by that time…

"Yosh! You all made it!" Lee cried with delight from where he stood in line already.

"Hey, thanks for saving our places," Sakura spoke up with a grin. Lee blushed and felt his heart thump a million times per second.

"Anything for my Saku–––"

"Hey! I guess I'll pay for your ticket, then, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said rather loudly, pushing Lee away and cuddling next to his teammate.

"Um, whatever, Naruto," she answered. Tenten gave Neji a pleading look and he sighed, fishing for his wallet. In fact, everybody started to get out money until–––

"That won't be necessary!" Chouji called suddenly, standing up and being rather manly save for the red wheelbarrow that still held Shikamaru.

"Chouji, what are you talking about?" Kiba asked. The heavy boy smiled proudly. Unbeknownst to any of the group (except maybe Shikamaru), Chouji had been waiting for this moment for months on end. He had practiced every line, gotten to know the staff intimately––– heck, he even _worked_ at the place, all so he could say––

"Ami, I'll be taking some guests today." The short-haired girl at the ticket window smiled as she recognized the boy.

"Oh, Chouji! Hi, there!" She, like most of the aquarium's staff, knew about Chouji's little plan and played along perfectly. "Go right ahead." Chouji extended his arm to Ino, who took it with a look of happy surprise.

"Go get 'er, Tiger," Ami whispered, then turned back to the rest of the group who went to follow the couple. "Um, where are you guys going?"

"With Chouji?" Sakura spoke up hopefully. Ami laughed.

"Sorry, kids, but that was only for Chouji and his date. You, on the other hand," she nodded to the line, "Have to pay. Looks like a long wait, too." Everybody groaned and returned to the spot Lee _still_ was holding in line, conveniently enough. Oh, well. That made the time go a _little_ bit faster...

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"Wow! Look at all the fish!" Sakura exclaimed rapturously as she pointed to a tank. "I want to go see the stingrays!"

"…so?" Neji mumbled, clearly annoyed at having to be at such a place filled with merriment and joy… and joyness.

"Neji!" Tenten chided him. "At any rate, we should go see the octo… puses. Octopi… Plural of octopus!" Hinata, who was right beside her for no particular reason, played with her fingers nervously and looked downcast. She had wanted to see the penguins…

"We should go to the dolphin exhibit!" Lee exclaimed. Ino, nearby, gave him a blank look.

"I know I'm going to regret this, but why?" Lee's eye gleamed.

"BECAUSE DOLPHINS ARE THE SYMBOL OF ALL YOUTHFULLNESS!" He cried, posing and staring into space intensely.

"…starfish…" Shikamaru yawned. "They don't… move…"

"Starfish! Yes!" Chouji agreed automatically, then reconsidered. "Ino, where do you want to go?" Ino blinked.

"Hrm? Um… I guess I wanted to see the Undersea Forest Exhibit…" It was the natural answer of a florist.

"Oh, okay then. Everybody, we're going to–––"

"But I wanted to see the octo… oc–– You know what I mean!" Tenten sighed.

"And I said stingrays first!" Sakura whined.

"DOLPHINS OF YOUTH!"

"…starfish…"

"Um… Um, Chouji-kun,… um, I…"

"Stingrays are kinda boring, Sakura."

"They are _not_!"

"…I don't really care where we go–––"

"HEY, LOOK! SHARKS!!!" Naruto screamed suddenly, dashing haphazardly in that direction past visitors to the aquarium and knocking over a few small children.

"WHERE?!" Lee and Kiba were right behind him, naturally. Some kind of… testosterone thing. There they all were, on one of the many floors of the vast fish exhibits, and five minutes had not even passed before they were causing confusion and mayhem. People were giving them weird looks, and even gesturing in the direction of security. Suddenly Ino whistled shrilly. Everyone in the group and several other passer-bys came to a screeching halt. The blonde girl reddened slightly and laughed nervously.

"Um… Would everyone in our group please step to the side, and… um… everyone else go about their business?" She smiled widely, and in a few minutes everybody did as told.

"Okay," Ino said in a quieter voice, breathing a sigh of relief. "How about we do rock-paper-scissors to see where we go first?" It was silent. Then Shikamaru yawned lazily and sat up (yes, he was laying down. He's Shikamaru)

"Or… How about we split up into groups and meet back at the front in a few hours? That way, there's less chaos and everyone can do what they want?" Despite the many stares he received, Shikamaru was already asleep in no time.

"Okay then!" Ino announced, a little embarrassed at having been shown up. "Well, Chouji and I will go to the Undersea Forest Exhibit. Anyone coming with?" No one responded, so the two shrugged and were on their way.

"Neji and I are going to the… Well, I said it a buncha times."

"Wait, what?" Neji was snapped back to reality. "Since when?" All it took Tenten was a look at Neji.

"…fine. I don't really care where I go…" Neji grumbled.

"Sharks!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

"But I want to go see the stingrays!" Sakura argued, crossing her arms. Naruto paused for a moment.

"Then go see the stingrays. You don't need me with you." It was deadly silent. Then–––

"I shall accompany you, my lovely flower! The stingrays would interest me greatly! For anything you are interested in, I am interested in, too!" Lee gave the "Nice Guy" pose for added emphasis. Sakura twitched for a second, then did the least expected thing ever––– she latched onto Lee's arm with a giggle.

"Oh, Lee, I knew you'd come through for me!" she beamed, and then turned around and stuck her tongue out at Naruto… as Inner Sakura (What? There's only so much Sakura bashing you can do) The blonde boy's jaw dropped.

"Wha–Wha– Sakura-chan! I was only kidding!" Naruto whined pathetically, chasing after the couple.

"No, you weren't!"

"Yes, I was!"

"Naruto, you are such a liar!" Their voices faded off into the distance, and soon all that could be heard was the sound of murmured awe, the shuffling of Hinata's feet, and Shikamaru's snores. The poor girl glanced about, alone and afraid. She had wanted to go with Naruto, but he was going with Lee and Sakura, and they seemed to be so much better friends than she was with them. She didn't want to make things awkward. And besides which, stingrays kind of… scared her… But now she had no one to go anywhere with! Standing there, surrounded by aquatic life, Hinata began to sniffle, and slowly tears rolled down her lonely cheeks––

"Hinata, check this out!" The girl jumped. Who had said her name? Wait, she recognized that voice…

"K…Kiba-kun?" She squeaked in surprise. Kiba cocked his head to the side.

"Um… yeah?" She flushed a little and looked down.

"Um… I thought… you had left with the others…" she managed. Kiba chuckled.

"Why would you think that? You didn't seem very interested in the other exhibits, so why would I?" Hinata reddened and Kiba floundered suddenly, trying to regain himself. "Erm, I mean, why would I leave you alone? You always need protecting, Hinata!" He laughed a little again. She remained silent.

_Aw, crap_. _Way to mess that one up_, Kiba groaned inwardly.

"Kiba-kun?" Kiba sighed, wincing slightly.

"Yeah, Hinata?" _Crap, crap, crap, crap…_

"Thank you." She smiled at him, and then hesitantly took his hand. Kiba stiffened and blushed at the warmth and softness. "I'm sorry I didn't… think of that."

"You…" Kiba shook his head, and held onto her hand tightly. "Yeah, okay. So where do you want to go?"

"AH! He changed color!" Tenten laughed, indicating a violet-red octopus squirming about in his tank. "Neji, aren't they cool?" When there was no response, Tenten glanced to the side. The boy was leaning against the railing, glancing at the tanks below where people were happily "ooo-ing" and "ah-ing." He did not seem amused. Tenten sighed and walked over.

"What's wrong now?" She asked, crossing her arms. Neji looked at her from the corner of his eyes, but said nothing.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" If there was one thing that ticked Tenten off, it was disrespect––– and you _never_ disrespect a weapons' mistress.

"Neji!" Finally he stirred.

"What?" he asked coldly. Tenten was taken aback, but not for long.

"You know, if you didn't want to come–––"

"Who said I didn't want to come?" Neji interjected stubbornly.

"Well, you aren't having the time of your life!"

"Thank you, I didn't realize that for myself, Tenten."

"Then why did you come!" Neji opened his mouth to respond, and then found, to his great alarm and displeasure, that he had nothing to say. "_Well_?"

"I…" He narrowed his pupil-less ivory eyes and shrugged. "Don't you have octo… whatever to look at?"

"Fine. Be that way." Tenten snorted, walking away. "I don't have to put up with your attitude." Neji blinked, surprised. Then he relaxed.

"Yeah, you do." The bunned kunoichi spun around.

"What?"

"I _said_, 'Yeah, you do.'" Neji's stare was now a challenge. Tenten rose to it.

"Oh, really? And why might that be?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips. The Hyuuga boy smirked.

"Because you like me."

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"Is it edible?" Ino sighed as this came out of Chouji's mouth for the hundredth time during their date.

"No, Chouji, I don't think a sea cucumber is edible." What had Ino been thinking? A romantic date with Chouji? The girl shook her head as they moved on towards the kelp portion. The thought was too good to be true.

"What's that one, Ino?" This was the millionth time he said _that_. The blonde-haired kunoichi thought she would scream if this kept up!

"Chouji, I don't know underwater plants. It'll say on the placard."

"Right, Ino. You and Shikamaru are so smart." Chouji beamed at her, and instantly Ino felt guilty. Well, he _was_ trying…

It wasn't as if Ino didn't _know_ Chouji liked her. She did, and Sakura liked to rub it in her face about "the fat couple" every now and then. It wasn't that. It was… Ino pondered this more a moment. Well, it just didn't _register_. She… and Chouji? Together? But surely that's what Chouji thought whenever he was gazing at her during training, thinking she didn't notice. Suddenly, images of a future fat self whirled in Ino's head, faster and faster and scarier than the last!

"Ino, will you–––?" He was holding out a ring! A _ring_!

"AHHH, I WON'T MARRY YOU!!!" Ino screamed loudly. It was still. A baby could be heard crying in the distance. The girl looked around, embarrassed. Luckily, there was no one there. Chouji blinked, half confused and half frightened.

"Ah… what?"

"Chouji… I'm sorry," Ino said in a lower voice, taking a breath. "I have to let you know that… I don't like you that way." Not a word was spoken.

"Oh." Chouji sounded heartbroken. "Oh. O…kay." He looked around, then at Ino, then at the ring, then back at Ino. He paused.

"Um… I'm not sure why you're telling me that when I know you like Sasuke…" Chouji managed. Ino blinked.

"But… we're alone! The ring! This date!" She faltered. Then Chouji did the oddest thing–– he laughed.

"_Oh_. That's what's gotten you so weird." He wiped imaginary sweat off of his brow. "Well, sorry about there being no people. You were kinda walking this way, so I followed you. And you asked me out on the… the…date, remember? And this ring?" He placed it in her palm. "This was a special "thank you" present I was going to give you because I had such a fun time–– I got it from the gift shop while you were in the bathroom." Ino examined it and, sure enough, there was the logo from the aquarium on the "pearl."

"…oh." Ino blushed, and fingered the piece of jewelry stupidly. "Um…"

"That is, if you still want it," the boy added. Ino's eyes widened.

"Oh! Oh, yes! Of course! Thank you for a wonderful time, too!" She hugged him impulsively. "I'm sorry, I've just been… weird all day." She grinned nervously, then glanced at the clock. "Hey, it's time to go meet the others!"

"So it is!" Chouji chuckled. "Lead the way, Ino!" As the girl gladly did so, Chouji found himself reaching for his bag of chips. However, with a depressed sigh, he threw them away. _At least she told me before I made a fool of myself_, he thought with a sigh. _How could I have ever thought to measure up to Sasuke in her mind_? He smiled sadly. _At least we're still friends_…

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"…But _nooo_, Naruto just _had_ to see where that door lead to!" Sakura was finishing as the couple approached. She looked up.

"Where've _you_ two been?" she asked suggestively.

"The same place we said we would be?" Ino asked in a "duh" tone of voice. Kiba smirked.

"At least she didn't get lost like you!"

"Oh… shut up, Kiba!" Sakura pouted. "It's all Naruto's fault anyways."

"Yes! I told my delicate Cherry Blossom in the Sun that she should not follow Naruto, but the call of the unknown was too great for her." Lee paused. "What a youthful attribute! You have won my heart!"

"Didn't she win your heart already, Lee?" Tenten asked quietly from a corner. Everyone looked in her direction.

"What?" She glanced at Neji accidentally, then frowned and looked away.

"Why are _you _so grumpy?" Sakura asked. Tenten gritted her teeth.

"Y'know, sometimes it's better not to ask, Sakura." And with that Tenten left the group in a huff. Sakura shrugged.

"What's her problem?" Neji shot her a glare out of nowhere. "_What_?"

"So!" Ino interrupted before there could be any bloodshed, despite the fact that it would be Sakura's. "Hinata! Did you have a nice time?" Ino smiled at her, then blinked in shock. "Wait, what's this?"

"Wha… what?" Hinata looked about, confused, then realized she was still holding Kiba's hand. She let go immediately.

"I didn't know you two were a couple!" Sakura exclaimed with a giggle.

"Ah, no, we're not––!" Hinata tried.

"Just don't have any children with that… _mutt_," Neji grumbled darkly.

"What was that?" Kiba snapped.

"Ah… ah!"

"Way to go, Kiba! I knew you'd land yerself a girl someday." Naruto thwacked his friend on the back heartily. It was if it was in slow motion, and Naruto's voice was the only sound that could be heard. That's all it took for poor Hinata.

"I… I don't… I don't like _him_!" She cried all of a sudden, pushing away Kiba, tears coming down her face. She only paused to give Naruto a hurt look before continuing to cry and running away. The group was stunned at her sudden outspokenness.

"Hi…Hinata?" Kiba went to chase after her, but then stopped, looking downcast, and muttered angrily to himself, "Stupid…!"

"Kiba, I didn't mean–––" Ino began worriedly. He merely shrugged and wordlessly walked away, in the opposite direction of Hinata. Sakura opened her mouth to comment, then sighed.

"Lee, are you going to take me home?" She asked at lastß without much enthusiasm. Lee more than made up for that.

"Why, of course, my Cherry Blossom in the Sun!" He linked arms with her, and she looked back at Naruto expectantly. But the boy didn't move.

"What is wrong, darling Sakura?" The girl was ripped from her thoughts.

"Hm, what? Oh, uh… nothing." Sakura turned away, a frown on her face. Ino looked hard at Naruto after the two had left.

"Aren't you going to chase after her?" The boy gave the blonde-girl a look of surprise, then smirked.

"Nah…" He replied with a shrug. "Why should I? She'll only get mad at me."

"Naru_to_!" Ino yelled, clearly disappointed. "Are you giving up now?" Naruto heaved a sigh, and shrugged again. He looked at Chouji, who was pretending not to be disappointed, and Shikamaru, content and asleep. He shook his head.

"I think this whole… date thing has gotten to everybody, Ino. Maybe we should all, you know, get some time alone for awhile."

"Oh, uh, okay." Ino replied hesitantly. She tucked a hair behind her ear and then turned away to go home with her team. In the silence that followed the sound of hearts breaking could be heard.

**Ah! It's all dramatic! I'm sorry, Chouji-kun, I didn't mean to make your chapter that way (it means he's important, though, right?) I figured I'd mix things up a little; this _is_ romance, right? So I added some lovers' quarrels and such (But they're only twelve! What the heck? XD). Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter––– you know what's coming next! …or do you?**


	11. Surprise! GaaraxIno

**Author's Note: Wow! 20 of you have put "Ramen" in your favorites! I feel so touched… either that or you haven't read any good fanfics XD Also, thank you whoever put this in The Hidden Shadow of the Cosmos Flower C2! That makes me want to cry! And congrats to all of you who guessed about this special segment! You're so smart! But enough about me, on to the date-a-tude…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, there would be considerably less gay people mobbed by Akatsuki …ow…**

Sakura Haruno, future Mrs. Sasuke Uchiha. She smiled and sighed at the title as she walked down the streets of her village, remembering the absolutely _wonderful_ time she had had on their "mission" today. First, Sasuke had brushed by her. Then he'd _looked_ at her! And he didn't frown! Which for no reason (except for that known to his fangirls alone) meant he was in love with her! Granted, it was not just her and Sasuke that were on the mission, but Naruto was keeping his distance and Kakashi-sensei… Well, he was normal, but that was okay. A certain shop caught her eye in the glint of the dying sun. She smiled to herself, and pushed open a glass door with ease.

"Hey, Ino! Just thought I'd stop by since I finished my mission with––– Oh… my… Kami-sama," Sakura managed as she walked into the Yamanaka flower shop, nearly falling in shock. She tried to add more, but found she couldn't speak. Ino turned around guiltily, trying to hide her obvious plunder.

"Darn it, Sakura, can't you knock?" Ino cursed inwardly as she remembered that the bell on the front door wasn't working.

"Ino…" Sakura tried again. "Where did you get so much…?" She gestured around. Ino attempted to laugh, and it came out more of a nervous giggle.

"What? It's not _that_ much." Sakura gawked.

"Not that much? Not that _much_? Ino, do you _hear_ what you're saying? What did you do, rob a _bank_?" The pink-haired girl made her way over to where her ex-best friend rested against piles of stuff.

"Actually… Yeah. I did." Ino ran a hand through her fair-haired locks. Sakura blinked.

"You robbed a bank?" She asked blankly.

"Well… yeah." Sakura took a breath.

"I see." She mused this thought over for a second, and then finally exploded.

"YOU ROBBED A _BANK_? WHY DID YOU ROB A BANK? No, not even 'why!' _HOW_?"

"Hey, you don't need to blow my eardrums out…" Ino grumbled, then sighed. "Look, it's a long story that started this morning." Sakura pulled out a plastic chair and plunked herself down on it, glancing at the clock.

"We've got time," she smiled brightly, clasping her hands together innocently.

"Y'know, this is why I get mad at you," Ino mumbled.

"I'm listening…"

"Okay, okay. It went something like this…"

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"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun! Gonna go out with Sasuke-kun! Gonna be all mine––– Sasuke-kun!" Ino sang cheerily into the morning's floral-scented air. She bustled about the shop in a happy mood, for today she, Ino Yamanaka, soon to be Mrs. Sasuke Uchiha, would have her first romantic date with the love of her life. It had been a few busy weeks since the "Chouji incident," and although there was strained awkwardness on everybody's parts, it soon became apparent that things were getting back to normal. In fact, the group of girls had managed to not only meet but plan on just how they would get the Uchiha heir to go on a date willingly with Ino. Well, okay, it was mostly Tenten and Ino planning, but who cares about details?

At any rate, Ino could hardly contain her excitement, even when the bell over the door tinkled loudly, announcing the first customer of the day. Ino winced and looked over at her guest with a forced business smile.

"Welcome to Yamanaka–– Naruto?" Her smile relaxed a little at the company, so close had they gotten over only a few of the dates and a few times spent hanging out on the side. In fact, come to think of it, he'd been in her shop for many of the past couple mornings. The blonde boy pulled up a chair and faced it backwards, propping his elbows lazily on the back.

"Yamanaka Naruto," he smirked with a mischievous glint in his eye. "I like the sound of that." Ino pretended to gasp in revulsion and swatted him over the back of the head.

"Listen to you!" She couldn't help but laugh at the boy's antics. "What would Sakura say if she heard you?"

"Good riddance?"

"Naruto!"

"Well, she _would_," he whined, but then looked up at her slyly. "But who says I care anymore; I get to hang out with you, right?" Ino could see the imploring look in his eyes. When she didn't answer Naruto tried to laugh it off, but it came out awkwardly, so he stopped. The girl turned away and busied herself with a potted plant. She didn't want to see this happening; she had seen it too many times already. That same look, that same tone of voice all over again. It seemed this whole date thing was turning out to be a stupid mistake. Maybe it wasn't what she thought. Maybe he hadn't grown so attached to her. Maybe…

"Naruto, I'm telling you, Sakura's just using Lee." Ino paused, then added a little more quietly, "Like you used me, right?" Suddenly Naruto was snapped out of his dreamy stupor.

"Wait–– what?" He cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?" Ino cleared her throat.

"I mean that you're trying to get Sakura back, right? Wasn't that the whole point?" Naruto was only able to blink in disbelief.

"So what are you saying, that I'm just… using you?"

"Well, no, but…" She didn't turn around for fear of looking into his eyes. "I mean… Yeah." She waited.

"So I'm using you," he said, trying to sound matter-of-fact.

"Well, no, I mean…" This wasn't turning out right at all; she didn't like the direction this conversation could take. Why had she decided to get close with him in the first place? Was she really so jealous of everyone else?

"Then why did you say it if you didn't mean it?" He got up, pushing the chair back. She closed her eyes and tried to take a breath.

"But I… did mean it …" She couldn't say anything more. Why, oh why on today of all days?

"You meant that you think I'm using you to get to Sakura-chan?" His voice was barely under control, dripping with disbelief. "So this whole thing has meant nothing to you at all?"

"No, I…!" Ino turned all of sudden, trying not to cry in her frustration. "It's just… It seems like… I mean, I just thought…!"

"That's… That's not _fair_, Ino-chan!" As his agitation increased so did the level of his voice. "You had just as much fun as I did! I mean… didn't you? You would have said something, wouldn't you?" Ino couldn't look at him. "_Wouldn't you_?"

"Yes!" She hated this. "Yes, I would have–––"

"And you were flirting with me! We talked over the phone and–––"

"Only because _you_ were!" She wasn't thinking clearly. "Naruto, I don't want to _talk_ about this!"

"We _are_ talking about this!" He was staring intensely at her, fists balled at his sides, but she wouldn't meet his gaze.

"Ino, look at me!" He commanded suddenly, his alarm giving rise to uncharacteristic gruffness. She couldn't. "_Ino_!" She couldn't handle any more. "Ino, tell me that you like me!" She couldn't. "Ino, tell me that you like me like I like you! _Tell me_!"

"But I DON'T!" Suddenly the room was silent, catching the girl offguard. "Naruto, I'm sorry for what you thought it was, but it's not like that! I don't… I don't like you like that, okay?" She could see the shock hit him first, then pain. "I mean, yes, I enjoyed being with you, and yeah, I kinda had a thing for you going there, but come on! We're only twelve! It was just a stupid dating thing! I didn't… it…it wasn't supposed to be… like that." Why did she feel like she had to justify the way she felt? Why did all this guilt suddenly flood her? She was just getting a handle on what a "crush" was, and now this! Naruto's eyes widened with the rejection and he looked down, clearly feeling burned. She didn't mean to lead him on like that…

"Naruto…?" Ino couldn't stand to see him like this. "Naruto, we can still be friends, I'm just not ready for–––" He swatted away the comforting hand she tried to put on his shoulder.

"Whatever," he muttered darkly. He paused, clenching his teeth, then looked up slowly. "I…I guess…"

"You… guess what?" The change was abrupt. Suddenly he grinned widely, and even laughed a little. Ino was taken aback.

"Yeah, well, that's never stopped me before, right?" He laughed harder, but she could tell it was forced... and it pained her. "I guess… what really sucks is that I'll always keep losing to that stuck up jerk!" He laughed again for good measure, but Ino did not join in. How could she? She felt sick to her stomach.

"Naruto, it's not–––"

"Oh, don't worry about me," he shrugged hastily, cutting her off. "I'm used to it from Sakura-chan." He smiled again, and then thought for a moment. "Which reminds me, I'll be late for our mission. That same stupid lady keeps losing her cat, and now two dogs and a few gerbils, maybe a hamster…"

"Wait––– what mission?" Ino asked, puzzled even further. "Today's the…" She trailed off, realizing it might be insensitive. He tilted his head to the side as he had done earlier.

"Oh, I didn't tell you? Oops. Yeah, we got a last minute mission, so Sakura's calling the whole thing off. Geez, you think they would'a picked another team, but no…" He stopped, and then looked directly into her eyes. "Hope you won't die of… _anxiety _or anything." Ino couldn't believe her ears. That was a note of bitterness just now!

"Wait, Naruto!" But he was already gone, running as hard as he could out the door. Ino stood there for a few minutes, and then sighed. Naruto was heartbroken from rejection, and now Ino wouldn't even be able to go on her date with Sasuke! She flopped down into the chair that had held her guest only a few minutes before… and found she felt like crying. Couldn't anything go _right_ today? What she needed desperately was something, anything at all to help her forget this lousy start. A distraction of any kind! Ino closed her eyes and held her face in her hands, wishing with her heart. And it was at that moment that the door banged open in violent gust of wind, causing the fragile bell to shatter on the wall. In the doorway stood the cause of the disturbance, and normally the blonde girl would have risen in anger immediately. But when Ino looked up… she saw a savior.

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"Y-y-you!" The girl managed, standing up suddenly and pointing a shaky finger at the other girl. "You…!"

"Me," her companion replied with a small smirk, quirking an eyebrow. She stepped into the shop, dragging her giant fan behind her and running a sweaty hand through her bangs. "Nice place you got here. You get much business?" She looked over at the door and gave a fake guilty smile at the destruction. "Oops, did I do that?"

"W–wait a minute. Why are you here?" Ino managed, looking wildly about. The other girl snorted.

"How about you show your elders some respect, little girl?" She leaned against the folded metal fan. "But I guess I couldn't have expected much more. Shikamaru said you'd be trouble…" At the mention of the name Ino snapped back to reality.

"Shikamaru? _He_ sent you?" The girl with the fan suddenly struck the floor with the silver instrument in frustration.

"Look, I _have_ a name, you know! How 'bout you learn it?" She cleared her throat and said, very slowly. "Te…ma…ri… Got it? Good." Ino scrunched up her face, insulted, but did not retaliate. This girl, Temari; she was much stronger than Ino, she knew, and it would not be good to incur her wrath. So thinking, Ino swallowed her hot spit.

"Temari," she repeated, and the other girl nodded with a smile. "Okay, Temari-san–––"

"Just Temari," the other girl cut her off. "I hate formality." _I can tell_, Ino thought ruefully.

"Okay, then, _Temari_… please tell me why Shikamaru sent you here." Temari snorted at the comment but proceeded anyways.

"Here's the deal. My brother, Kankuro–– I'm sure you remember him from the Chuunin exams, the one with the wack face paint? Anyways, he has business in town and I decided to drop by." She ended this vague explanation with yet another smile, and Ino was beginning to see a pattern.

"So… that's it? You're just going to hang out here?" Ino's voice was rich with skepticism. Temari snorted again.

"_Tsh_, no. I'm here to drop this one off." The girl turned and craned her neck to see behind a display of fresh roses. "Come on, now, don't be shy…" At first Ino thought that perhaps the girl really was insane, but slowly something began to move… And what Ino had thought were petals she saw, with horror, was actually hair. _Red_ hair. She gasped, unable to find words to voice her terror.

"Come on, Gaara…" Temari cooed in a sweet voice. He stood beside his sister, a little uneasily, but his stone-cold stare said differently. "Gaara, say hello to––"

"Is that really necessary?" he snapped, and his older sibling shut up immediately. The room was filled with an eerie aura of doom, and Temari, doing the intelligent thing, decided not to stick around.

"So… I'm just gonna leave you two alone to get acquainted and stuff, mmkay?" She beamed, grabbing her fan and placing it in the sash on her back.

"Wait, um…" Ino was still trying to get in control of her tongue. "This isn't––– what's going on?" Temari's smile widened as she leaned against the frame of the door, ready to bolt at any second.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? Your Gaara's new babysitter."

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Silence hung thickly in the air of the small floral shop, and Ino could not begin to describe how confused and emotionally drained she was right now. She sank into the plastic white seat, wanting to no longer cry but laugh hysterically. Babysitter! Her! Here she was, the same age as this boy, and his sister thought she could just dump him on her like that! Oh, and let's not forget the fact that the last time Ino had seen the mass-murderer, he was on a killing spree and had "R.I.P. Uchiha" burning in his eyes. This was not Ino's idea of babysitting, and certainly not her ideal date. She sighed.

"So… G…" She choked on the word, but regained her composure. _Chill, chill… If Naruto can handle this guy, then so can I…_

"Gaara, right?" The girl asked, beginning again. "I'm In––"

"I know," he interrupted her disinterestedly. "She told me."

"…oh." _Come on, Ino, make the best of the situation_! "So…um… do you… _know_ what's going on?" He didn't move a muscle. At. All. Ino gulped. "I mean, 'cause I'm not sure…" This was hopeless. "Okay, look, I know you probably don't like me… at all. In fact, you probably hate me. A lot. But this is like, the last thing I need right now, so if you could kindly tell your… um… your…"

"Sister." It was said evenly, his eyes not moving from her face.

"Right. Sister. If you could kindly tell your sister to not drop her problems on me, it'd be much appreciated." He remained silent for a while, thinking, watching her. Ino hated this; she was practically to the point of screaming and they'd only been there for five minutes! In fact, she might do something drastic––

"Your eyes." His voice in the quiet room had a chilling effect, but Ino braved the cold anyway.

"I'm…I'm sorry?" He tilted his head slightly to the side.

"Your eyes," he repeated slowly, and this time he moved his head to the other side, but only a little bit. He paused, looking for the right words. "They're… "

"Blue?" Ino asked, trying to hasten his thought out speech. He shook his head.

"Pretty," he decided at last. "They look like… his."

"Whose?"

"Naruto's." Ino sucked in air sharply.

"I see." Her sudden change in mood made Gaara curious.

"Don't you like him?" Ino laughed lightly.

"Well, what's not to like?" She paused. "Um…Can we change topics?" He shrugged.

"You want to know why I'm here?" Gaara said at last.

"Wha–– oh, yes! Please," Ino added enthusiastically. He nodded somewhat, and his sudden openness in manner threw Ino off. It was almost as if he knew for when he spoke again, he said, "It's because I trust your eyes." The boy seemed to look right through them. He waited again before speaking.

"I have a brother, too," he began. "Not just a sister." Ino nodded for him to continue. "His specialty is puppets… he works with them… And uses them to fight.

"Recently, he joined up with… some people… They travel a lot. And they put on shows…" He hesitated. He was looking for the right word again; communication was obviously not his strong point.

"A puppet troupe?" He nodded, and his eyes relaxed a little.

"Yes. They're here this weekend."

"Oh… So you guys traveled here to watch your brother perform?" Gaara shook his head this time.

"No. Not exactly. Temari's friend… your friend, he and Temari have been sending letters to each other."

"Letters?" He nodded. "Why?" He shrugged.

"He told her about this… thing that you've been doing… And she decided you would watch me." _Thing_? Ino was confused, and it took her a few minutes to process what he had said. Then it hit her.

"Wait a minute. So Temari is the one who sent all those letters to Shikamaru that one time, and she's his 'penpal' that he's been hiding from me, but that I found out about anyway by bribing Chouji? And he told her about the dating thing, and now you're here because your sister thinks that this can somehow count as a date?" Gaara nodded simply. "AUGH!"

"What's wrong?"

"Well, for starters, this isn't exactly a date." Gaara blinked.

"It's… not?"

"No." Ino couldn't believe the gall of that woman! When she saw Temari again… she'd probably cower like a little girl. But at least she could _imagine_ beating her up!

"What's… a date?" He paused, and then added. "Ino."

"A date?" She thought it over for a moment. "Well… it's what two people do to get to know each other."

"We're getting to know each other," he replied blankly.

"Yeah, but normally they go out and do something fun." Gaara blinked.

"Fun?"

"What? You don't know what fun is?" He shook his head.

"I was told… my definition wasn't exactly… correct." Ino understood.

"Well, it's something that makes you happy." Gaara's eyes widened slightly at this.

"Happy?" He thought for a moment. "What makes you… happy, Ino?" The girl smiled, sweating slightly.

"Well…" She laced her fingers and stretched before getting up. "Walks. Walks make me very happy. Do you want to go for one?" Gaara was silent for a minute or two. Then finally he nodded.

"Yes." He hesitated. "A date-walk."

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"Ahh, it feels so nice to be outside!" Ino laughed as she skipped ahead slightly. Gaara was in less of a good mood; after all, people stared at him, whispered about him when they thought he wasn't looking, and then there was the occasional little child pointing, screaming, and running away when they saw him come near. It didn't help that he was outright glaring. Ino knew this all too well and turned abruptly around.

"So, Gaara! Now that I've said what makes me happy, what makes you happy?" The question caught him off guard and he nearly tripped over himself in the process, a very un-Gaara-like thing to do. He shook his head slowly.

"I… " He seemed a bit frustrated. "Not this walk." Ino frowned, hurt a little.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I–––"

"Not you," Gaara cut her off. He nodded slightly to the surrounding area. "Them." Ino suddenly understood what he was saying.

"Oh, I see… Yeah…" She thought for a moment. "What about ice cream?" The idea came to her as she saw a small cart up ahead, the vendor happily selling the sweet product to various people. Gaara blinked and then nodded.

"Yes," he admitted at last. "It's nice… At home it's hot… So ice cream is good." Ino smiled in satisfaction. They stood in line and waited, Ino chatting about whatever came to mind and Gaara nodding every now and then in response. However, when it came time for them to order, Ino fished into her pocket for her wallet and found she only had enough money for one cone!

"Ah! I thought I had more money!" She cried. "I suppose it's because we've been waiting for the flower shop to pick up…" She sighed and handed over the currency, receiving the vanilla cone Gaara had admitted to wanting. In fact, he had practically demanded _only_ vanilla, but Ino let it slide; after all, he was talking, right?

"Man, that sucks," Ino murmured as they continued their walk through town, Gaara contentedly licking his ice cream cone.

"Here." Gaara offered the rest to the girl. Ino shook her head, but he insisted.

"Um… thanks," she managed. It was good. For some reason Ino didn't remember the ice cream from that man being so good, but maybe he just got a different brand.

"Better?" Gaara asked, a little worry in his voice. Ino laughed when she realized what he meant.

"Oh, that's not the reason I said it," she said with a chuckle. "It's just that I don't have any money…" The red-haired boy timidly reached for the cone again, seeing Ino was preoccupied, so she distractedly handed it back. He cheerfully finished it off. But the sugar did not hinder his curiosity.

"Why do you need… money?" Ino blinked at this statement.

"Mmm? Well, see, I was going to go shopping, because that's something I also find fun, but I guess I can't." The disappointment in her voice caused Gaara's gaze to harden. Granted, he had barely known this strange girl for a couple hours, but his sister and Naruto trusted her, so the fact that she was unhappy disturbed him greatly. He was finding it was a hard thing to do, not only love yourself, but you could manage it if the other person wasn't unhappy. At last, he spoke.

"Where do you… _get_ money?"

"Well, normally I would get some from my allowance at home," the girl replied as she gazed into a store window at a cute purse she was just _dying_ to have. "But I don't feel like walking all the way home and back, and by the time we would have gotten out here again, we'll have to go _right_ back." Gaara's frown deepened.

"So people have to… carry their money with them everywhere?" Ino thought for a moment.

"Well, no. There are credit cards, which we're to young to have but are _great_ for shopping, there're checks, which I don't know much about, and then…" She trailed off and shook her head. "There's the bank, but we don't have an account."

"What's…a bank?"

"It's a place where people store their money, but I don't think–––" Gaara seemed to brighten considerably.

"Is there one nearby?"

"Um… Yeah, actually. It's across the street." Ino pointed at a rather old and large building. Gaara nodded.

"Good. Let's… get some money."

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Gaara's eyes narrowed, and his fists were balling at his sides. He was trying to control his anger; Kankuro, being the only sensible one in the household, had taught him a little about that. Even so…

"Yeah… Nice try kid…" The woman behind the desk continued to smirk and snicker at the boy. "You kinda have to, I dunno, have an _account_? How old are you, anyways?" She was still snickering. Ino, embarrassed, stood behind the determined and frustrated Gaara, hoping no one recognize her. Gaara's steely gaze would not from the lady's face, and she was beginning to find it annoying.

"Hey, kid, I don't have time for your jokes," she snapped. "So if you would kindly _get out of the way of the other custo_–––" It happened in an instant. It always did. Gaara's lethal strike was practiced until it was an artform, and this lady was his recent piece. An arm of sand held her by the collar, and she choked out her surprise.

"I didn't _ask_ for your scorn," Gaara growled, the sand tightening its hold as his hands tightened on his folded arms. "I _asked_ for money." The women's eyes were wide with fear, and Ino managed to squeak something in her shock.

"G-Gaara, we'll be killed by ANBU!" She hissed, back to back with him, searching for security–nin.

"Hold onto me," he commanded. Ino blushed suddenly at this order.

"W-what?"

"The sand will protect you if you hold onto me," Gaara explained quietly. Ino wavered but at last she held onto the boy from behind, pressed tightly against the grooves of the large gourd. What the heck was she doing? Ino didn't know, and she decided it was best just not to think about it. Gaara was stronger than anyone she knew (well, except maybe Sasuke-kun) by far, so what could she do?

"Now I'll give you _one last chance_," the red-haired youth grinned wildly, his eyes alive with the spark of fresh blood. Some habits don't change. "Give. Us. All. Your. Money." Ino wanted to interrupt him and yell that this was crazy, but the Gaara she was gripping was the psycho one of old and would most likely _not_ listen to reason. The boy let the woman drop to the floor roughly, and she rubbed her neck bitterly.

"I'll scream!" She threatened, smiling nervously. Gaara grinned insanely right back.

"Do it. It'll be your last sound." That shut the woman up. She began searching for a bag distractedly, and then filled it with all the money she could get her hands on. This kid wasn't kidding around. With a quivering hand and a defiant glint in her eye the lady handed him the bag. Gaara was about to grab it from her when the woman suddenly chucked a stapler at his head in an attempt to distract him. Ino let out a shrill scream. Needless to say it attracted the attention of everyone in the immediate vicinity, including several nin who happened to be in the bank and should have been paying attention in the first place. Alas.

"Help, help! Theif!" The woman shouted as the stapler bounced harmlessly off of Gaara's sand. Instantly other ninja sprang into action, running at them and throwing various sharp, metal objects. Ino couldn't take it anymore; Gaara was just standing there, and sooner or later one of the nin would know her. She had no choice.

"Gaara, watch my body!" She yelled suddenly. "Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Gaara found himself holding a limp Ino, but heard her voice nonetheless… coming from the bank teller?

"Um… Sorry about that! HEY! Yeah, all you ninja, um… I'm just kidding. This is my nephew… And… um…" Ino's faked voice hesitated, and she looked at Gaara, who was still a bit confused at the jutsu's use. "It's Fake a Theft Day! Yeah, you know… testing your skill… um… So anyways, I'll just take this back…" But Gaara, still suspicious, wouldn't let go. He glared at Ino's current body, holding onto the bag like a vice.

"Gaara, what are you doing?" Ino hissed.

"No," he said simply. Ino sighed.

"Um… Okay, fine. You can, uh… take the play money, sweetie…" By this time most of ninja and normal bank people who should have known better but conveniently didn't had returned to normal, so Ino released the jutsu, and had Gaara promptly knock out the woman, at which point they made their escape and went shopping like mad. And Ino got that cute purse she really wanted. Heck, she got ten, with matching outfits and jewelry. Then Gaara helped her move the stuff with his sand to the flower shop, and then his sister picked him up. The End.

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"Wait, what?" Sakura blinked at the abrupt ending to the story. "You rob a bank and then the end? That's it?" Ino threw up her hands in defeat.

"Sakura, we _robbed a bank_! What more do you want!" Ino paused. "I guess I shouldn't say that too loudly…"

"Nope," Sakura laughed. "But now I have something on you and Gaara… Well, okay, just you…" Ino glared.

"They wouldn't recognize me…" she muttered.

"Wanna bet?"

"Okay, okay, what do you want?" Ino ran a hand through her hair, not wanting to play games with her "rival." Sakura smirked and fanned out tickets in front of her face. Tickets to a show…a puppet show…_that_ puppet show!

"What the heck!" Ino exclaimed.

"Ino, congratulations. You just won a date… with Kankuro!"

**Ah, sorry this was so long, but it wasn't long enough to justify cutting it into two chapters (the original Shino one was over 5,000 words, so…) I mean, uh… extra long because I take so long to update? ;; Also, sorry about the length of the NaruIno scene… A lot of people said they liked this couple, so I thought I'd make it special… Come to think of it, _I_ like this couple XD Next time is Kankuro! Don't' forget to tell me what you thought by reviewing! 3 Labbess **


	12. Surprise! KankuroxIno

**Author's Note: blows cobwebs off of story Oh, hey there… No, really, I am SO sorry that it has taken me so long to update and I really appreciate you guys being patient with me! I have had the hugest writer's block with this chapter but I finally overcame it. Please enjoy and don't forget to tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: Well, I finally decided… I don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't own Naruto :) I have no idea what I just said XD**

Temari sat on the grassy knoll beside… She thought for a moment. Well, Shikamaru wasn't really her _friend_… Come to think of it, when was the last time she had had a friend? Well, in any case they were both sitting on the hill peacefully (which was quite a change for Temari), when suddenly the girl spoke up.

"You know, Gaara's been talking nonstop since yesterday…" She remarked lightly, brushing away stray wisps of hair from her eyes. Shikamaru answered with a grunt, his eyes closed shut and his body stretched out to relax. At least, that's what he intended to do. But this… there wasn't even a degree of troublesomeness that could describe this woman! She _insisted_ on following him about. Fine by him, as long as she would let him _sleep_…

Temari scowled and jabbed the boy in the ribs. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" Her companion opened one eye sleepily and sighed.

"Wouldn't this be better if you… I dunno, talked to someone awake?" He almost said "who cared," but he knew better.

"Yeah, like who?"

"Chouji?" It was the first name to pop into his head. Temari kicked him. Hard.

"OW!" He rolled away before she could aim another one. "The heck was that for?"

"You're ticking me off."

"Why? Because I make sense?" He rubbed at the spot that would no doubt bruise later.

"Because you refuse to humor me…" Her voice was a low growl, and with a fluid motion she stood up and propped herself on her fan. Shikamaru sighed again and turned over to look at her.

"And that's why you hang around me?"

"That, and you're cute." Temari smirked and leaned over the metal instrument that had caused so much windy torment in the past. Shikamaru didn't know whether to be pleased and blush, or to shiver at the frightening smile she graced him with. But the boy did not intend to show she had successfully caught him off-guard. So he did neither.

"That's nice." It was a solid, neutral answer. She couldn't _possibly_ get mad at him for that… Not.

"SHUT _UP_!" She screamed, almost severing him in half with a blow from her fan, which embedded itself in the ground where he had been.

"GAH! Geez, take it easy with that thing…" he mumbled from behind her. She turned around viciously, prepared to strike again but Shikamaru held up his hand and tried again. "_Fine_. Tell me about Gaara." The girl paused, considering. Then her dark eyes flashed with annoyance and she gripped the cool pleated metal harder.

"Now you're just lying to me."

"Ugh… What do you think humoring _means_?" Shikamaru groaned, falling back onto the grass in defeat. "I give up… Women…"

"Darn straight," she snorted, placing the fan back in her bright sash and seating herself next to the younger boy once more. "Anyways, I was saying he's been really talkative… well, for Gaara…" Shikamaru looked over lazily at her, eyes half-lidded.

"Yeah…?" He sighed as she shrugged. "And that was important enough to attempt slicing me in two?" Temari's lips tightened into an irritated smile.

"Excuse me?"

"…nothing…" He looked directly at her this time, realizing she wasn't going to go away. "Ino has that affect on people…"

"Oh, really? And I suppose she can make him smile secretly and ask when he's going to visit her again all the time?" Temari crossed her arms. "Oh, and by the way, you're going on a date with me to my brother's show." Shikamaru hit the ground with his fist, eyes shut tight in annoyance.

"I knew it," he muttered. "No, I'm not going to see a puppet show."

"Yes, you are. It's today, and _I _don't have anyone to go with!"

"I already said, Chouj––– OW! Quit kicking me, woman!" It was the exact. Same. Spot.

"You're coming."

"No–– OW!" Again, she kicked him. Harder.

"You're _coming_."

"Fine!" He sighed. "Fine. I'm coming."

"Fine." It was peaceful again.

"…but I'm not going to stay awake…" Shikamaru mumbled at last. And that was pretty much that.

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Kankuro adjusted Karasu on his back nervously, then tugged at the bandage, the puppet banging against his spine. _Dang, where is she_?

It seemed like only yesterday that a random pink-haired girl had accosted him in the streets as he went to meet up with his siblings after a long pre-show practice. Wait, it _was_ yesterday. Well, at any rate, this chick had up and told him that he was going on a date with her friend whether he liked it or not… And told him exactly how to do it. Heck, she even gave him money along with several threats that if he _didn't_ show up she would sic her boyfriend on him, Sas-something-or-the-other-she-kept-repeating, and didn't she know how strong he was? Yes, they really were going out, so he could stop with the faces and–– stop staring at her forehead like that, you jerk! Kankuro rolled his eyes. But he didn't really care about the threats one way or another; if the chick wasn't hot he was dropping her like a hot potato... no pun intended.

Okay, who was he kidding? The chances of him ever getting another date were slim to none… Maybe it was the face paint… or the demented puppet he carried around. At any rate, this girl was fifteen minutes late, and if she didn't–––

"Hey!" Kankuro's ears perked up at the sound of a female voice. The boy turned his head casually, figuring it was some girl talking to her friend or something. Boy, was he wrong.

"Kankuro! Kankuro, right?" The puppeteer-nin tried to squeak out a response, but his tongue that was normally oh-so-good at launching sarcastic barbs seemed to flop over like a dead fish.

"Well, is it?" the vision of beauty continued, apparently unaware of her companion's current speech impairment. At last, Kankuro was able to gulp and forced his tongue to work…

"Are you real?" was the first thing that came out.

"Um… what?" The girl frowned, looking around. Then she muttered to herself, "Maybe I have the wrong freaky puppet guy…" Ouch. Minus one for Team Kankuro.

"I'm Kankuro!" He managed to get through at last, trying not to blush at messing up so badly on his first date…/conversation with a girl not his sister.

"Oh, good!" The girl smiled, brushing back her loose hair with a laugh. "I'm Ino. I believe you met with my friend Sakura yesterday?"

"Pink hair?" Ino nodded. "Yeah." He paused for a moment, then added under his breath, "So you're 'Ino-chan.' Well, this isn't gonna go over well…"

"What?"

"Nothing," Kankuro said quickly. It was awkwardly silent. _Crap, what do I do now_?

"Hey, sorry about being late, I hope the show hasn't started or anything," Ino said after five minutes of people watching. Kankuro snapped out of self-pity mode to hear the girl.

"Oh, uh, it's fine." He had completely forgotten that this was exactly what he had been complaining of ten minutes ago. "I mean, I just wanted to, uh, I mean it doesn't start until… Um… It's fine."

"Oh, good. Sometimes I kinda get sidetracked… " Ino laughed guiltily. Sidetracked… What _had_ she been doing, come to think of it, that caused her to lose her perfect reputation for coming at least half an hour early to everything…?

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She was going out with Gaara's brother. This was totally, completely unexpected and Ino still could not get over the fact that Sakura would make her do two dates in two days! Applying another coat of lip-gloss, the girl had sat at a bench at the appointed place, fidgeting. Why, oh _why_ did she have to be early to everything? It was so _annoying_ having to wait for someone… Well, at least she could use this time to daydream about her Sasuke-kun…

"Ino?"

"Of course I'll marry you…" Ino murmured distantly, caught in a perfect fantasy. "I love you soooo much. Let's name the baby after you…"

"Um… " The voice by her side hesitated at these strange remarks. "I'm… flattered?" Ino gasped in horror, snapping out of the reverie at the sound of the voice, wheeling around on the bench and facing none other than–––

"K-K-Kakashi-sensei?" Her face turned beet red and the poor girl tried to find some way to take back the comment she had accidentally let slip.

"Ino," he acknowledged with his normal half grin. It didn't help that he wasn't reacting at all to what she had just said.

"I–– It was an accident! It wasn't–– I didn't–– you weren't–– I was talking to Sasuke-kun!" she yelled at last, trying frantically to restore her pride.

"Who happens not to be here, by the way," Kakashi commented faintly. "He came down with a bad cold… Something about Naruto talking about him… " The grey-haired man looked back down at Ino as if just noticing her for the first time. "So! What brings you out here on this fine day?" Ino blinked. Was he totally just ignoring her outburst? How rude! He should totally be acting flustered to have accidentally received the attentions of a lady such as herself! Or… that's what she read in romance novels…

"I'm here waiting for my date," Ino snorted, crossing her arms slightly. Kakashi's visible eyebrow went up.

"Ah, yes, I believe Naruto mentioned something about that…" Ino's eyes widened suddenly.

"Well, it's not _with_ Naruto!" she snapped, crossing her arms more and turning away. "Don't you have a Kurenai-sensei to stalk or something?" Kakashi chuckled to himself; these kids, they thought they knew everything…

"Nah." Casually he took a deck of cards out of one of his pockets that, to Ino's disgust, was decorated with the Icha Icha logo. "So who is it this time?"

"Nobody! Go away!" Ino growled, not looking at him. "It's no one…"

"…_is_ it Naruto?" Kakashi asked, arching an eyebrow again.

"NO!" Ino turned and looked at him, trying not to strangle the teacher on the spot. "Why can't you go a–––"

"Play you for it." Before Ino could respond she realized the Jounin had set up a game of Icha Icha Uno.

"What?" She stared in disbelief.

"I'll play you for the answer," he smiled. Ino still didn't trust this man.

"I don't play cards with perverted teachers…"

"Well, if you're afraid you'll lose, that's fine…" He made a move to clean up the cards. Ino's eyes flashed at the watch on her arm; she still had twenty-three minutes…

"Wait." Kakashi looked up, and Ino took a breath. "One game. "

"One game?"

"Yeah."

They played for more than one game. Ino was on a winning streak, and with the time not ticking by any faster she kept agreeing to just one more game. It was weird. It was fun. It was… addicting…

"Okay, this game…" Ino smirked proudly as he spoke, leaning back slightly as she fanned herself with her cards. So far she had won a steak dinner, the next issue of Icha Icha, three new kunai, fifteen shuriken… What could he possibly want to bet now?

"How 'bout I get so see under your mask?" She was surprised to hear the remark coming out of her own mouth, but there it was… Kakashi eyed her for a second before glancing down at his cards again.

"How about you make up with Naruto if I win?" Ino almost fell off the bench.

"WHAT? How–– I mean, did he…?" The man was shaking his head a little sadly. "I mean, I can't! It's not like I did anything wrong…"

"Ino, Naruto's been depressed ever since he came from your shop. You wouldn't think he was, but he has an odd way of showing it…" He cracked a smile. "He called Sakura by your name once, actually." She frowned. "Look, all I'm asking is that you try again…"

"Yeah, well…" Ino felt uneasy with these stakes. "Well, you're just afraid I'll win…" Everything else before, well, they just hadn't been this personal!

"We'll bet the mask next game," he promised with a nod. Ino's look softened. Okay… But… Okay! What did she care? It was just a card game, just new stakes, just Naruto, just…

"I win." …just the worst mistake she could've possibly _made_! Not more than a minute later Kakashi laid down his last card, triumphant. "Now, if I'm correct in remembering what you said earlier, aren't you fifteen minutes late for your date?" Ino almost screamed as she looked at the time.

"Ack, you're right! Omigosh, what's he gonna say! I am _so_ late! Bye, thanks for the games, Kakashi-sensei!" She was running as fast as she could, trying to beat the clock––

"Ino!" The girl almost tripped over herself as she turned to look back.

"What? Didn't we just say I'm gonna be late?"

"Remember what we bet…" This was no time for Ino to be standing around talking like this, but she could see, just for a second, how much this Jounin cared for his team, even the knucklehead loser with whiskers on his face. She simply nodded, leaving her unspoken promise there as she searched out her date.

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"…and then we kinda nibbled at it, but seriously, there was _sand_ in his casserole!" Kankuro finished as Ino awoke from her flashback, just in time to nod and laugh politely.

"So… Here we are…" Kankuro held the door open for the girl as they stepped inside of a large room. From what Ino could guess this was the backstage portion of the venue she'd managed to catch Kankuro babbling about.

"Yo, Kankuro! Where y'be–– Whoa, who's _this_?" A boy who appeared to be a little older than Kankuro, but also dressed in black approached the couple. "Is this… her?" Kankuro bit his lip in embarrassment at the other boy's bluntness and nodded.

"Ino, this is Kyou, one of the guys I work with. Kyou, Ino." The two bowed respectfully.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Kyou smiled flirtatiously, and then turned to Kankuro. "You gonna show her the ropes?"

"Maybe later," the Sand-nin replied vaguely. "Ino, you're going to be sitting with my family, is that okay?"

"Hm? I… I guess so…" She paused, and then added, "I _will _get to see you later, right?" Kankuro stared at her for a second, and couldn't help it. He blushed.

"Yes, uh… Yeah, the performance is just the first part… I was… And…" He felt like smacking himself. Was he totally incapable of not stammering like an idiot?

"Oh, good," Ino breathed at his answer. She was really more concerned over the "legit-ness" of the date than anything, and so remained unaware of the potential direction her words took.

"Yeah… Um… I––" Kyou cleared his throat and Kankuro visibly jumped. "Yeah! Okay, I'll take you to your seat, and, um, yeah, later…" As the two went to walk towards the stairs that lead to the front row, Kyou suddenly grabbed Kankuro by the arm.

"What?" he snapped, a little startled. Kyou smiled, looking in Ino's direction with raised eyebrows.

"She's cute. Don't mess up or I might just steal her from you." Kankuro frowned, gritting his teeth.

"Sh… shut up." He pushed the boy away and went to rejoin Ino and lead her to her seat once more. He didn't bother to turn around and see Kyou's reaction.

"What was _that_ about?" Ino asked as they climbed the stairs. Kankuro glared to the side, obviously not in a happy mood since the brief chat.

"Nothing. Just… nothing." Ino gave him a weird look before walking down the aisle to her seat. What she didn't know was that Kyou was a flirt, and not just any flirt; he was the one guy that had repeatedly been able to move in on any girl that even blipped on Kankuro's radar and make her fall madly in love with him. What she didn't know that Kyou and Kankuro had fought before, and although Kankuro was a ninja, he had simply used his fists in indignation and had always lost. What she didn't know was that Temari didn't make it any easier when he lost, and that they were both disappointed in him. What she didn't know was that _this_ time Kankuro was going to prove himself…through her.

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The air was tense, and all because of stupid seating choices. Kankuro had told her the seat number, and sure enough Ino recognized the familiar red-colored hair of Gaara, whose face lit up when he spotted her. She even took note of the spiked blonde pigtails beside him, most likely belonging to his sister. However, there was something, or rather, _someone_ else she didn't factor in: Shikamaru.

"What are you doing here?" Ino whispered curiously, slipping into the free seat beside him. Instantly Gaara was up from his sister's side and sat on the other side of Ino, startling Temari and making her glare at Ino suspiciously.

"Actually, I'm–––"

"He's with me," Temari cut Shikamaru off coldly. "What are _you_ doing here?" Ino stopped herself mid-retort.

"Kankuro… didn't tell you?" Then it hit her. Of course he wouldn't have; he didn't even know her name until but half an hour ago!

"Kankuro?" Gaara blinked as his sister slowly began to lose her temper. He wished he knew what was going on. It was a very pleasant surprise to see Ino here as he often felt like falling asleep from boredom during the puppet shows his older brother put on (which he never understood anyways because no one bothered trying to explain them to him), but now it seemed she would have to leave… Something about his brother that made Temari upset. Well, this most definitely did not sit well with Gaara.

"Ino-chan _stays_," he growled, eyeing his sister angrily.

"Yes, but Gaara, she's–––" Temari tried.

"_Stays._" He reiterated.

"I'll go," Shikamaru offered a little hopefully. Walking versus the troublesomeness of sitting with Temari… Heck, he would run at this point.

"You're not going anywhere!" Temari snapped, pulling the poor boy roughly back into his seat. So much for that…

"Hey, you let go of him!" Ino shouted suddenly.

"Why should I?" Temari countered, leaning across Shikamaru to glare at the other girl.

"'Cause he's not your slave!"

"He is if I say he is!"

"Down in front!" Someone yelled.

"SHUT UP!" The two women growled in response. Ino turned back to Temari.

"He doesn't even want to _be_ here!"

"He did until _you_ showed up!"

"No, he didn't! I've known him since _forever_!"

"He did if I _say_ so!"

"Do I get an opinion in this…?"

"NO!" The two women yelled at Shikamaru before turning back around to glare at each other. Then suddenly they sat back down in stony silence. Shikamaru found he begin to sweat between the two psycho blonde women who, consequently, happened to be the most troublesome women he ever knew, second only to his mother.

"Ino…-chan?" Gaara asked, hesitantly placing a hand on hers. She almost barked something in her fury, but had enough control left to turn and simply smile at the boy.

"Yes, Gaara?" He smiled back a little.

"Don't mind her. She gets… grumpy… "

"I understand. You see…" Ino trailed off. Suddenly she had the inspiration for a wicked idea that made her, for once in her life, grateful Sakura was such a pest. The kunoichi turned to Gaara and divulged a little behind a wide grin.

"You _see_, I'm just a bit protective because Shikamaru's like my… _brother_…" She grinned at Shikamaru briefly. This, however, only caused his nervousness to increase exponentially as Temari caught sight of the smile and tightened her grip on him.

"He is?" Gaara asked, cocking his head to the side slightly.

"Yup. You _know_…" Her grin would have widened even more, if that were humanly possible. "Like Kankuro is to you… and Temari." Oh, this plan was going to be great. Ino settled back into her seat as the curtain rose on the stage and the lights dimmed.

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"That was so awesome!" Ino cheered, heartily continuing to applaud along with the rest of the audience. Gaara nodded and smiled slightly. So _that's_ what the story was about! He hadn't even realized that you weren't supposed to look at the people managing the puppets, and then… and then he had learned they were playing _characters_! Well, that made the story much more fun and easy to understand!

"Shikamaru!" Temari growled, kicking the said boy in the leg. "Get up! You missed half the performance because you were asleep!" Apparently she was still a little miffed from before.

"I _told_ you I was going to sleep, woman, now leave me be!"

"Why, you–––!" Temari was cut off by Ino shaking her head and laughing, mildly amused. "And what are _you _giggling about, Princess?" Ino sighed.

"You know, for someone who's an "older woman," you sure don't seem to know how to treat your date." Temari blushed in anger at this, gripping the fan that she had set down in the seat next to her.

"Ex_cuse_ me?" Even Shikamaru opened his eyes in surprise at yet another confrontation.

"That's right. I bet you me and my date can have more fun than you and yours, even though we _just met_!" Temari's face contorted into an evil grin, her hold on the fan intensifying.

"Oh, _really_?"

"Yeah, really."

"And when you _lose_? What are the stakes?" The Sand kunoichi's tone and gaze challenged the other girl, but Ino would not back down.

"Loser has to… has to…" the younger girl hesitated, her eyes flicking about. "Loser has to do _whatever_ her guy asks for. For a day." Temari's stare shifted to where Shikamaru sat. If she lost, he would make her life a living Hell… She smirked. But she _wouldn't_ lose. Especially to this Barbie doll.

"You're on, sweetheart," Temari replied. "Oh, and one more thing."

"What's that?" Ino asked, hands on her hips.

"Hamburgers. You better be ready to buy a lot." She nodded at her brother in black as he raced down the aisle to where they sat.

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It had come to this. After the puppet cake eating contest, the puppet whittling competition, and yes, even the best ventriloquism act, the group had arrived, sweaty and tired as it were, to the final fight between Temari and Ino. It was mighty, it was brutal, it was–––

"A puppet obstacle course?" Ino and Temari gawked at the complicated array of tunnels, hoops, and was that a tank of sharks? Shikamaru yawned and glanced about, eyes half-lidded in the bright daylight while Gaara looked positively confused.

"Yeah, it's a new attraction…" Kankuro looked over his shoulder and added, "Not designed by me. Go with it."

"It's lame is what it is," Temari replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Well, it sounds like fun at any rate…" Ino smiled. "I think we should try it." She looked over at Temari slyly. "Unless you're _afraid_ of losing?"

"Please," the older girl snarled. "As if I haven't kicked your butt in every other contest." Five minutes later found the girls operating puppets and crashing through the various obstacles, trying their darned hardest to beat each other in a silly puppet race. Again.

"Crap, she's gaining!" Temari spat as she dove through the hoop set afire, dragging Shikamaru so haphazardly behind that he was almost scorched.

"Dangit, woman–––!"

"You shut up!" Temari snapped, now leaping over the very real tank of sharks. One jumped up and narrowly missed chomping down the Nara boy. "We're almost there–– I can see the finish line!"

"If I survive that long…"

Meanwhile, Ino and Kankuro struggled to catch up to the fleeting couple. Well, more like _Ino_ struggled.

"AHHH! I'm getting tangled in the strings again!" she whimpered, trying not to laugh, as this was the_ fifth _time this had happened. Kankuro laughed for her.

"How do you keep getting tangled? It's controlled by your own chakra!" he smirked. "Here…"

"I don't _know_ how," the girl replied once he had freed her once more. "Thanks. Again."

"No problem." Kankuro glanced at the strings for a second. "Here, why don't you try this?" Softly he put his hand on hers, nudging her fingers this way and that. "See? You keep using your thumb…" He was trying not to blush as he manipulated the puppet via Ino's hand, and she was obviously trying not to do the same. Or not so obviously. Kankuro wanted to smack himself. What if she was offended?

"Wow, you're amazing at this," Ino gasped at last as she was finally able to make her puppet hobble along, tangle-free.

"Well, you know…" Kankuro shrugged. They paused for a second, neither one of them saying anything, when suddenly–––

"Are you planning on _finishing_?" came Temari's voice, loud as could be, from across the obstacle course. No guessing as to who had won this one.

"Guess we should, uh…" Kankuro nodded towards the source of his sister's impatience.

"Right."

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"All right, so it's official," Temari grinned, leaning against the sno-cone maker as the other couple approached, licking victoriously at her puppet-shaped colored ice. "I win."

"_We_," mumbled Shikamaru, slumped on the ground in a fit of exhaustion. This was met with a sharp dig of the girl's foot to his side.

"Hush, you."

"There you go," Ino smiled as she handed Gaara his vanilla sno-cone. He thanked her and sat idly near the puppet-shaped sandbox that Kankuro had specifically ordered for him; in it now lay different miniature statues of people Gaara knew.

"So, Shika-_chan_, guess you and I get a whole day together that _you _don't get to order me around in. This is going to be fun," Temari was saying as Ino came back. The following crack of knuckles disturbed both males as well as Ino.

"W… wait a minute, now," she spoke up quickly. The older girl rolled her eyes and looked over at Ino.

"Yeah?"

"That wasn't the deal." Temari blinked.

"Huh?"

"The deal was whichever couple had the most _fun_." She placed her hands on her hips. "And I don't know about you, but I certainly had more fun losing than I think you did winning."

"Are you serious? Of course we had fun!" She nudged Shikamaru with her foot again. "Didn't we?" The boy looked up, one eye closed from sheer laziness.

"Do I really need to answer that?" he asked. She kicked him harder. "Woman–––!"

"What about you, Kankuro?" At this Temari's ears pricked up.

"Yeah, _Kankuro_." She tapped the fan on her back briefly. "How was it?" But Kankuro wasn't paying attention to that. Instead, he saw Kyou swaggering up to them.

"Hey, guys." The boy directed his attention right at Ino. "Lookin' a little bored, there."

"We, uh–––"

"We're just _fine_, thank you," Ino smiled, looping her arm in Kankuro's in an almost defiant manner. Kyou's eyes widened.

"Oh. Uh… I see. Well, uh, just checking." Kankuro couldn't believe it. Had he really just beaten Kyou, once and for all? It was too good to be true. But sure enough, that was him, slinking away with disgust. He wanted to whoop with joy, punch the air, _something_, but Kankuro's dignity wouldn't allow it, so he grinned secretly.

"So, Kankuro," Ino smiled as the danger passed. "You still haven't answered the question."

"What's that?" The girl shook her head with a smile.

"Did you have fun?" He didn't even take time to think of an answer.

"Are you kidding me? This was the best day of my life!"

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"You owe me big if that banshee comes after me," Ino muttered after she and Shikamaru had waved good-bye to the Sand siblings. "Nevermind the 'if,' you just owe me big."

"I know, I know…" he yawned. "Thanks for doing that, Ino."

"Yeah, yeah." She paused for thought. "All that for just _one_ day of quiet the next time she comes around?"

"You'd be surprised how much I need it."

"I think she likes you." Shikamaru smirked, not looking over.

"I know."

"So you're going to get her to shut up?"

"She likes it," he yawned again, waving his hand in dismissal. "She may not seem like it, but trust me, I know." ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"I can't _believe_ I had to go through that!" Temari screeched as her family took the path to their hotel. "I mean, honestly! I was beaten by a cheerleader!"

"I said I was sorry!" Kankuro whined. Gaara said nothing, but watched the sunset's fading colors quietly.

"And you!" Temari nearly rushed at her brother with her fan, then stopped mid-swing. "_You_!"

"I'm sorry!" Kankuro managed, but then he took note of the soft look his sister gave him. Of course he took note; it was as rare as a blue moon.

"…what?" he asked, staring dumbly. Even Gaara was paying attention now.

"Well… At least we got rid'a that brat Kyou…" She seemed to be hesitating. Was she trying to indulge him?

"Yeah––– Wait. Did you… did you lose on _purpose_?" He gasped. This earned him an immediate hard glare.

"I _never_ lose. I just choose not to win." She turned around and snorted self-righteously. "What's one day of beating up Shikamaru anyways?" He laughed. At least there was one girl who would always love him, no matter what… nevermind the daily beatings.

**Hope you guys liked that! Sappy ending, I know, and the length was horrendous, but I still hope it was enjoyed! Next is Sasuke, the epic grand finale to the **_**Like Ramen**_** saga! It will be extra long (and therefore will take longer to write), but will be worth the wait! Don't miss out! In the meantime, please don't forget to review and tell me what you think. Ciao for now! Labbess**


	13. SasukexIno

**Author's Note: Well, here we are, the last date in this saga of Sakura's dare to Ino. Before I go on, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed "Like Ramen" and/ or put it in their favorite stories––– it has been a great encouragement to me as an author. All right, all right, I'll save the emotional stuff for the end. Anyways, please enjoy the SasukexIno chapter of "Like Ramen: A Dating Story!" Oh, and also, there are a few MILD_ Phantom of the Opera_ (which I don't own)spoilers in here, so beware of those.**

**Disclaimer: So I don't own Naruto… However, I **_**do**_** own Kishimoto-sensei's lawyer. **

**Ino: **You just don't get it, do you?

**Me:** Aren't you supposed to be sleeping or something? 

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"Ino? Ino…?"

"Mmn… Sasuke… -kun?" The blonde girl rolled over lazily, pulling the covers off of her head and coming face to face with–– "Sakura!" She almost fell out of bed.

"Rise and shine, morning glory!" The pink-haired girl exclaimed, holding up a calendar and pointing to a date that had been circled several times in different colors. "Today's the day!"

"What're you…?" Ino began, rubbing her eyes groggily. "Who let you in?"

"Please, we're ninja. Breaking and entering's part of the job description?"

"You're not a ninja, Sakura," Ino yawned, stretching, her light purple nightgown slipping down a bit. "Why're you so chipper anyways? Last time I checked, we had a rivalry?" Sakura blinked, then suddenly sank into gloom in a corner of Ino's room.

"…oh… right…" she muttered, and Hinata scampered over instantly, nervously trying to soothe the girl.

"Anyways!" Tenten said, popping up out of nowhere and picking up where Sakura had left off. "We're all here to prep you and get you dressed… and stuff." She smiled and then continued. "By the way, your dad let us in."

"Yeah, I figured," Ino yawned once more, rubbing at her eyes. "I don't suppose you guys brought me breakfast or something…?"

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"I can't believe this day has finally come!" Ino sighed, punching the air and grinning. "Sasuke-kun, all mine. On a date–– a whole date! This is amazing! And totally worth all the dates I had to go through up to this point!" Ino turned and kicked the air, nearly clipping Hinata in the side of the head.

"Hey, watch it!" Sakura snapped, pushing Ino down so that she was sitting, or rather, bouncing happily on her bed. "What happened to your half-awake…ness?"

"Food is a good thing." Ino grinned at Hinata. "Thanks for the omelet. D'you really make that yourself?" The shy girl blushed, clutching the ribbon that she happened to have in her hands.

"Oh, um… Y-yes, I d-did," she stammered, looking down.

"It was amazing. Teach me the recipe sometime, 'kay?" Hinata could only manage an embarrassed but obviously pleased nod in response.

"Okay, this is not cooking class, kids!" Sakura interrupted. But even she seemed to have picked up her energy from earlier. "It's already ten-thirty, and we haven't even gotten your dress!"

"Or done your hair!" Tenten added. "And then there's your makeup!" Ino blinked, confused.

"Dress? What is this? I thought I was going on a simple date… Y'know?" Tenten and Sakura gave her a look that made her feel somewhat naïve and stupid.

"What? Why're you looking at me like that?" she asked defensively.

"Ino, has that blonde head of yours suddenly filled with air? We're talking about one of the richest bachelors in Konoha! He's totally gonna blow cash on this!" Sakura exclaimed, not bothering to hide the jealousy in her voice.

"Plus he's got an ego the size of the Land of Fire, so chances are he's going to make it into a production!" At this Sakura and Ino shot Tenten a scary look that they had perfected, having been Sasuke's fangirls for a while. "What? It's true!"

"Anyways," Sakura cleared her throat. "I hope you haven't been starving yourself recently because I kind of guessed on your size."

"I do _not_ starve myself, Sakura," Ino growled, giving her a dirty look. "It's you that eats everything in sight."

"Funny, because _you're _the one that has 'pig' for a name!"

"Well, at least I don't have a giant fore––!"

"LADIES!" Tenten exclaimed, quieting everyone with her patient and slightly frightening smile. "This is Ino's day. Let's not get into petty arguments."

"She started it…" Ino muttered.

"I heard that."

"Oi, this is getting nowhere…" Tenten sighed, massaging her temple with her fingers. "They're worse than Neji and Lee–– Oh!" Tenten spun around suddenly. "Hinata!" The dark-haired girl looked up immediately, her eyes wide with alarm.

"Y-yes?"

"Ino's dress! We need to pick it up from Sasuke. Could you go do that while I try to keep these two from killing each other?" Hinata nodded silently and resolutely.

"U-um, what… wh-what should I s-say… to Sasuke-kun?" Hinata ventured timidly.

"Sasuke…" Tenten paused, thinking. "Crap. They'll all be over there, won't they? And Neji said it's a big place." Tenten looked over her shoulder at the pink and blonde-haired girls, already back in another argument over Sasuke. "You know what? I think I'll go with you to, uh, protect you. Or something." She clapped her hands together as if that settled the matter. "Hey, Sakura? We're going to pick up the dress. Help Ino figure out how she wants her hair or whatever." The result was some sort of affirmation, but the two went right back to fighting not more than a moment later.

"Ugh… Let's get out of here, Hinata. This is hard to deal with first thing in the morning…"

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Uchiha Sasuke had always prided himself (privately, of course) on his dashing good looks and smug, yet stoic attitude that had girls killing each other just to breathe the same air as him. His hair was always immaculately groomed so that it looked particularly disheveled (something females found wildly attractive), his mood swung from a smirk to an impatient scowl (all practiced at one point in front of the mirror), and sure, his attire could use a word of advice or two from the fashion police, but he had to have _something_ for all those ladies who needed something to fix in a boy. All in all, he was well deserving not only of the title of Konoha's richest bachelor, but richest _and_ sexiest bachelor. All of this at just the tender age of twelve; yeah, he had his future with women set before him on a shining, golden pedestal.

_Then why the heck_, Sasuke thought as he sat on his bed in the midst of his huge, luxurious room, _are _they _here_!

"We just wanted to come over to wish you luck!" Kiba had exclaimed over the phone yesterday. "'cause, y'know, Ino's Ex-Dates Club? Kinda our job." If Sasuke had known what "wishing him luck" would have entailed, he would have barred all the doors and windows of not only his particular mansion, but all the living quarters of the Uchiha compound. Not to mention, from what he'd heard, it was like Kiba had even actually gone out with Ino.

"Don't touch that!" The dark-haired boy snapped currently as Chouji bent to investigate something on his vast dresser. "That's expensive cologne, you might–––" _Crash_! "…break it."

"Sorry!" Kiba grinned, tugging Akamaru away from the broken bottle. "Seriously, though, what is that stuff anyways? My eyes are watering… Agh! My nose is on fire!" Sasuke sighed angrily, clutching the comb in his hand so hard it was about to split in two.

"It _was_ one of the last birthday gifts I received from my mother…" He muttered darkly. It didn't help that right beside him Shikamaru was stretched out comically, snoring as if it were his own bed.

"Uchiha, are you serious?" Neji peeked from the bathroom, a horrified look on his face as he held up an empty bottle of gel. "How many of these do you use a day?"

"Neji, get out of my stuff!" Sasuke snapped, getting up threateningly. The pale-eyed boy blinked, then shrugged, tossing the bottle back into the wastebasket.

"What is _this_?" Sasuke did not like the sound of the noise that had just come from his huge walk-in closet. When the doors burst open, he knew why. "I implore all of you to look upon my youthful glow as I strive to imitate our gracious host!" Standing before everyone was Rock Lee clothed in Sasuke's normal attire exactly, even to the point where he had taken Sasuke's headband and fastened it around his forehead.

"Surely now my beautiful cherry blossom in the sun can not refuse me?" Lee asked hopefully, his trademark caterpillar eyebrows rising with excitement. Sasuke had to stop himself from twitching and/or using a flame jutsu on the other boy.

"Ha ha, you look just like him!" Kiba cried, laughing heartily and pointing while Akamaru barked with amusement. Lee struck a Sasuke-like pose, frowning and crossing his arms.

"How is that?"

"Good, good!" Kiba encouraged. "Do that model turn thing––– y'know, like this?" Kiba demonstrated his imitation of a runway model, which was made even more humorous by Lee following his example.

"…it would seem–––"

"GYAH!" Sasuke cried, turning to see Shino standing there. He was so rapped up in making sure no one broke anything/ the spectacle before him that he hadn't even noticed the Aburame boy come up next to him.

"Sorry," Sasuke quickly apologized, pulling back on his mask of uncaring. "What were you saying?" Shino pushed up his dark glasses and nodded to the front of them, where even Chouji had joined in the "modeling," chuckling embarrassedly as he spun.

"…it would seem… we are surrounded by idiots," Shino replied blankly.

"Tell me about it," Sasuke sighed when just then, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Kiba declared, rushing to the door that was a good jog away. When he finally got there, the giant door swung open heavily.

"Hinata!" Kiba's eyes glittered with happiness, then turned to the girl beside her. "Oh, hey, Tenten! What're you guys doing here?"

"Well, we were _originally_ here for the dress Sasuke picked out," Tenten smiled back, "But we picked up a present on the way?" Kiba was about to ask what when none other than Naruto appeared behind them, looking a little more tired than usual.

"Hey! You're late!" Kiba said with a mischievous grin as he let everyone into Sasuke's manor. "By the way, Sasuke's room is a left, then a right, then two more lefts, then the 12th door on your right." Tenten blinked in alarm. "Or you could just follow the signs." He pointed to the paper tacked on the wall that had a variety of color-coded arrows for things like the closest bathroom and, of course, Sasuke's room.

"So," Kiba said as soon as the two girls were out of earshot. "What kept you?"

"Couldn't sleep," Naruto yawned, shrugging.

"You still like her, don't you?" Kiba asked at last. Naruto's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"What kind of stupid question is that?" He smiled, pushing Kiba playfully. But Kiba's face was serious.

"Look, Naruto, you don't have to go through this. I mean, feelings can change… _people_ can change, right? I've seen it. And you've experienced it firsthand." Naruto frowned a little, adjusting his arms folded behind his head.

"What's that smell?" He said instead, making a very disgusted face. "It's really… strong."

"Ah, crap! I got the cologne on me!" Kiba growled, wiping at his shirt. "I thought it was _you_."

"Dude, I don't smell like wet dog."

"Very _funny_, Naruto."

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"We're back!" Tenten announced half an hour or so later as she and Hinata walked through Ino's bedroom door. "Man, it's like a frat party over there or something. Oh, and if you're dad asks why you need a dress for polka lessons, just play along with it." As if to back up her statement, Tenten held up the shimmering piece of material.

"Wow, I can't believe Sasuke actually went out and bought me a dress," Ino sighed as she modeled it (and by model, I mean far more gracefully then Lee or Kiba) "It's so romantic… I mean, come on, he knows my _size_!" Ino squealed and blushed, swishing the beautiful fabric around her legs as she did so.

"Hey, hey! Let's not forget who Sasuke-kun came to so he could ask about your size and tastes?" Sakura hinted, zipping her up in the back. Before Ino could comment how it was funny that the only reason Sasuke talked to Sakura was for _her_, Tenten cleared her throat and brought over hair supplies.

"It _is_ gorgeous evening wear, though. I'm jealous," Tenten smiled. "But anyways, hair and makeup time!" Hinata held in her arms what Tenten didn't need and produced what she did when ordered. Soon, hours had flown by (with a little junk food snacking in between) and Ino stood in front of the full-length mirror in her room, spinning around, but unable to hide the glow of happiness from her face.

"Wow, I guess it's true what they say," Sakura smirked, waving the now cooled curling iron. "Makeup fixes everything."

"I _think_ what Sakura means is, you're definitely a match for Mr. Uchiha now, if not in a league of your own," Tenten smiled warmly. Hinata blushed slightly from where she stood next to the blonde girl.

"You… you look beautiful," she murmured nervously.

"Oh, you guys are great," Ino laughed, taking everyone into a group hug.

"You're welcome…"

"Oh, did I say all of you? I meant except Sakura."

"Hey!" But Sakura fought the urge to retort because she knew Ino was just kidding… hopefully. Suddenly a call went up from downstairs.

"I_no_!" Everyone in the room jumped visibly, and Ino sighed.

"Yes, daddy?" She called back down.

"Don't forget you have to mind the store for an hour before you go to polka lessons!"

"Um… Okay, daddy!" Ino called back down, then turned to the group with an odd look on her face.

"Hey, I figured your dad wasn't the type to let his girl go on a date with someone without grilling the guy first. And I figured that would only deter Sasuke, right?" Tenten replied innocently.

"Polka lessons…" Ino repeated, shaking her head. "But I don't like lying to him."

"You're not!" Sakura said suddenly. "We are. Now get down there and mind that shop or all this effort will be for nothing."

"Well, good luck," Tenten smiled, hugging Ino once more. "And be honest, okay? You know, this all _did _start with a comparison."

"Yeah," Ino smiled, knowing full well her decision already. Hinata merely waved shyly as she left the room, and Sakura followed but paused for a moment by the doorframe.

"By the way, Kakashi-sensei told me to remind you about some sort of bet you had with him…?" An eyebrow was raised at this. Ino didn't know what she was talking about until a few seconds passed.

"Oh! Oh, yeah. Yeah, I totally know…" In truth, she had completely forgotten about making up with Naruto, she had been so consumed with thoughts of Sasuke. But she was determined that she would do it later–––after the date, of course.

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"This is so _lame_!" Ino whined, trying not to lean on the counter so as to avoid getting potting soil on her dress. "It's almost been an hour already! Seriously, who makes their child work in evening wear?" She sighed, pressing her chin into her hand, a tress of her blonde hair falling into her eyes. She blew it out of her face and turned to the mirror behind her to fix it. That was when she spotted him, a reflection beside her face. It wasn't… But it was! What was he doing here? Ino turned, but he was already leaving.

"Naruto!" Ino cried out, nearly tripping over herself in her dress and heels. "Naruto, wait!" Unsure of himself the boy paused in the entrance of the Yamanaka flower shop, clutching red blooms to his chest protectively. Wait were those…roses? Red roses? Why was he…?

"Ino…." he managed with a smile. But when he looked her up and down, his smile seemed to echo sadness. "So…you're going with _him_ tonight, right?"

"Ah… Yeah." She closed her eyes briefly, breathing slowly, then opened them. "What… what are you doing here?"

"Um…" He rubbed the back of his neck, and then without warning shoved the flowers at her. "Uh, here!"

"Um…?" She counted them in her head, her flower language skills working away. "Thirteen?" She glanced up. "They're bound differently, but still…"

"Well, they sold those in doz–––" he began, but Ino cut him off by catching him in a hug. "Whoa! Aren't you… mad at me?" Ino released him and gave the blonde boy a quizzical look.

"Mad? I couldn't be happier! Of course I want to stay 'friends forever!'" Naruto frowned for a second, then smiled.

"Really?"

"Of course." She held the roses gently and grinned. "I wanted to… apologize for the way I treated you the other day. I hope we _are_ friends." Naruto reflected her smile with his.

"Of course." Then he nodded at the clock, "Sasuke should be here any moment."

"Oh, you're right! Do I look okay?"

"Beautiful. He'll be floored; he seemed excited when we left him."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He has a funny way of showing it. You should see how many times he went to the mirror to adjust something," Naruto snickered.

"Yeah…" But something didn't feel right. Ino didn't know what. Could it be the relief that felt so weird? She decided to ignore it. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"Me? Well, Sakura and I were, uh, gonna go somewhere…" He blushed and looked away, but it did nothing to hide the prideful glow on his face.

"Oh, you are _not_! That's so cool," Ino laughed, poking him. "Hope that turns out okay."

"Yeah, well–––" A sudden knock on the front door startled the two. There was Sasuke, dressed smartly in a suit waiting outside the glass doors, hesitant as to whether he should interrupt them or not.

"Coming!" Ino signaled, then turned to Naruto. "Well, here goes nothing. The evening I've been waiting for has finally come!"

"You're going to be fine, Ino," Naruto grinned. Impulsively she hugged him again, but this time he hugged her back, tightly. And then she was gone. Naruto watched her departing form as it entered the dark of the limousine that Sasuke must have rented for the night with his gobs of Uchiha funds. _Ino_, he thought, leaning his forehead against the cool of the glass door. _I just hope you're happy_.

"You look… nice," Sasuke offered quietly once the limo began to drive once more. Ino's eyes brightened.

"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself, you know," she laughed, and then realized he was giving her a strange look. "Sorry." He didn't say anything, but returned to looking out of the window. _Great. Not ten words come out of my mouth and the ride is awkward…_, Ino thought with a hint of bitterness.

"Oh! Hey, I was, um, wondering…" Ino tried again, "I mean, how was it exactly you decided to do this? 'Cause we had to convince Lee and I figured, you know, since you, uh…" _Shut up, shut up, shut up_! Ino screamed to her mouth inwardly. _I can_not _believe you just compared him to Lee. Sasuke-kun––– to _Lee! He shifted in his seat, but his gaze didn't move from the outside world. _Is the window really so much more interesting than me_? Ino thought, a little hurt.

"Naruto," he said at last, making the girl jump.

"I–I beg your pardon?"

"Naruto and Kiba… and all of them. Let's just say," he paused. "They _convinced_ me."

"Oh." _I wish he'd just be convinced by me_! Ino sighed. But she was a little pleasantly surprised that her "Ex-Dates Club" had come through for her. It almost made her smile. But what was she thinking? She was in the presence of the great Uchiha Sasuke! And he had (somewhat?) willingly agreed to take her on a date! She should be crying with joy. But she couldn't help but be relieved when the car rolled to a stop and he offered her his hand so she could get out of the vehicle. Now she knew the true meaning of a thick silence!

"Sasuke-kun…" Ino began, but then shook her head. "So… where are we going?"

"_Phantom of the Opera_." Was he blushing? No, that pink tint was Ino's imagination, right?

"Sakura suggested it," he added quickly. "If you don't like it–––"

"Oh, no!" Ino interrupted. "I've heard good things about the performance!" She hoped she didn't sound too eager. He nodded, as if checking something off in his head.

"Oh. Yeah," he said suddenly, reaching into his pocket. "This is also for you." Sasuke produced a velvet lined box, and on the inside was the most gorgeous diamond necklace Ino had ever seen. Not to mention the biggest.

"Wow…" Ino breathed, her eyes taking in the splendor. "This is… this is… Oh, wow…"

"May I?" Sasuke ventured, holding it out.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yes, definitely." Ino turned and held up her hair as Sasuke placed the gleaming gemstone around her neck. "Thank you so much!" At this Sasuke actually smiled a little. _He's relaxing_. _Maybe he was just… nervous_? The possibility made Ino simply want to shriek with happiness… but she knew she better not. He offered her his arm and she took it, a radiant smile upon her face.

Of course, knowing the kind of person he was and what family he came from, she shouldn't have been surprised he had his own private box. But she was.

"Holy cow! This view is _amazing_!" Ino cried once he had led her to her seat. She had a hard time resisting the urge to lean over the railing as far as she could and stare at all the people below.

"My parents used to take me to plays when I was little," Sasuke remarked, taking his seat and drinking from the glass of sparkling juice set there. "Something about exposing me to culture."

"Wow," Ino said for what felt like the twentieth time that night. "Wow." Twenty-one. She couldn't stop gawking, but at last the lights began to dim and she was forced to settle down in her seat. Not that she minded sitting next to the hottest guy that she knew. No, make that _ever_.

"Whoa…" Whatever Ino had imagined it would be like, this far outshone her expectations. The set was amazing, the outfits were gorgeous, and the singing–– Oh, Ino was blown away! Well, okay, that chandelier had scared the crap out of her and made her reach for the kunai in her purse, but when she sensed there was no danger she was able to relax. Okay, so the pyrotechnics scared her, too. But it was still an incredible experience. In fact, she was still sniffling long after the lights were up and people were leaving their seats.

"Ino?" Sasuke asked cautiously, snapping her out of the magic of the musical.

"Huh? Oh! Oh, I'm sorry," Ino said, blowing her nose into the tissue he had offered her. "Thanks. Sorry, I, uh…" She felt flustered for getting so emotional in front of her. "It's just that…"

"I understand," he nodded. "I don't think it was fair, either. The ending, I mean."

"Really?" Ino asked as she picked up her purse. "I mean, yeah, it was sad, but don't you think that she should end up with the guy she loves? It wouldn't be fair otherwise…"

"I suppose," Sasuke agreed, but Ino felt that she had said something wrong.

"So what now?" Ino asked quickly, hitching up her enthusiastic smile.

"Dinner," he replied. "I made reservations to this place my family always went to after plays. Sort of… tradition…" He looked at her, gauging her reaction.

"That sounds wonderful," Ino smiled. "I feel so honored to be apart of that. I know it must be tough…" She trailed off, but her meaning was left hanging in the air. _It must be tough not being able to do that with them anymore_. He didn't respond and instead held the door open for her, the warm night air whipping about her.

"Ino?" She looked up as they waited for the limousine.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

"Look, I know I'm not good at this. It's become… painfully obvious," he muttered with a sigh. "Um… Are you happy?" Ino's face broke into a genuine smile that seemed to brighten all her features.

"Very," she answered. He seemed to loosen up and smiled a little back.

"I'm glad."

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Surprise after surprise––– it was no wonder she had a huge crush on him. Okay, so she admitted to expecting something a little fancy, but this was the fanciest place in town! The instant they had walked in the door, everyone seemed to turn to stare (or was that her imagination again?), and the eyes of the maitre d' seemed to light up as soon as he glimpsed the pair.

"Sasuke-sama! It had been so long!" The small man then caught sight of Ino. "But who is this? A most beautiful girl––– and if I am not mistaken, the first that Sasuke-sama has brought to my humble restaurant." Sasuke snorted at this, but Ino introduced herself and bowed nonetheless.

"Reizo-kun!" The man suddenly called, snapping his fingers. A boy that seemed to be only a few years older than Ino appeared, and she noticed that both he and the maitre d' were dressed lavishly.

"Yes, sir?"

"Reizo-kun, escort this young couple to the finest table in the house." Amazement and uncertainty could be seen to pass across the boy's face, but he bowed and smiled at them, gesturing for them to follow him.

"He must be new here," Sasuke deduced.

"If not Konoha," Ino giggled. Her date smirked appreciatively. When they arrived at the table, Ino glanced down the menu only to discover most of it was in a foreign script.

"Um…"

"Italian," Sasuke explained.

"Oh." He then went on to suggest a couple of things, and although they all sounded delicious (or at the least interesting), she couldn't help but notice that they were all the most expensive things on the menu! She felt so pampered that she could barely speak. _Could this get better_? As if reading her mind, a piano player began to play a soothing, yet romantic melody. It got even better once the food arrived. The girl had forgotten what it was, exactly, she was eating, but whatever it was, it was _divine_. Not to mention that chocolate cake they had later! (So what were several hundred calories compared to sharing cake with Sasuke? Honestly!)

Now Ino glanced around blissfully, Sasuke's deep voice causing her to smile without thinking. It was wonderful… The play, a candlelit, Italian dinner for two, the atmosphere… Granted, there had been a rocky start but… _It's nothing like all those other dates I had to go through_, she thought with an inner smirk of disgust. But then it faded as another thought occurred to her. Would it be so bad if it was like her other dates? Ino's mind wandered back to all the time she had spent with those boys, the fun they'd had…

What about that time at the movies with Shikamaru, when they'd all blacked out and then picnicked on the hill? Or what about the aquarium with Chouji, or the field of flowers she'd romped about in with Akamaru and wished on a star with Shino? What about the bowling alley with Lee, or discussing shampoo with Neji? What about finding "fun" with Gaara and that memorable puppet performance and relay with Kankuro? What about…? She almost stopped breathing as another thought came to her. _What about Naruto_?

And with horror, as Ino sat there with her smile plastered across her face as she gazed at her date, she realized one thing: this _was_ the perfect date. Ino's grin almost broke at the thought. And that meant that _he_ was perfect, too. Even if things did work out, even if they did manage to fall in love and he wanted to be with her forever… How could she begin to compete with that? Weren't couples supposed to be equal? How long did Ino think she could possibly go on chasing the Uchiha boy and trying to meet his standards? The girl could hardly think straight, but she had never thought clearer in her life. She didn't want to date someone stoic and unattainable, she wanted someone who showered her with affection, gave her attention, made her _laugh_, for crying out loud! What she wanted was someone who made mistakes, but was strong enough to go on afterwards. Sure having him spend cash on her was great, but that wasn't the real her. That wasn't what she _wanted_. She wanted–––! Suddenly Ino turned away, and Sasuke frowned as he realized that Ino wasn't listening to him at all.

"Ino, is something wrong?" She quickly shook her head, placing a manicured hand on her mouth to keep from whimpering and breaking down in front of him. How would he feel? But Ino couldn't hold it in. Sasuke grew more worried by the second; what was going on?

"Are you sure? Can I get you something? More dessert, coffee, water, what?" Ino nodded and murmured quietly, "water." Sasuke signaled the waiter in an instant.

"Water for the lady," he almost barked in his confusion. The boy left right away.

"Ino, are you…?" He stopped. She looked at him, tears spilling out of her eyes, and for the first time in his life Sasuke was terrified that he had hurt this girl.

"I'm… " She choked on the words, and then dabbed quickly at her eyes with the napkin. "I'm fine, I just…" _I need to see him_… "Sasuke-kun, I…" _It may be too late_… "I just…" _Why am I realizing this_ now?

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, but I… I can't do this…" She was surprised to hear her own voice so clear and strong, throwing out those words at the boy she had claimed to love for years. Sasuke almost looked hurt, but he retrieved his normal mask of indifference in time.

"I see," he replied, but there was a pang of bitterness in his voice.

"I'm sorry," Ino repeated, beginning to cry again. "I didn't mean for things to be this way, but…" And suddenly Ino felt intense relief. "I'm sorry, I must seem so ungrateful, but I have to go. Thank you for a wonderful time." She got up to leave, ruffling her dress. As she passed Sasuke, however, he reached out and grabbed her hand. With a small gasp she was pulled back to him.

"Will… you be okay?" Sasuke asked, frowning and trying not to look away.

"Yes," Ino said and smiling, she kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you." And then she was gone. Sasuke watched her departing form as it disappeared down the stairs and into the night outside. _Ino_, he thought, pressing his mouth into his hand with a sigh. _I just hope you're happy_.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"Where is he?" Ino was running aimlessly, it seemed, through the streets of Konoha, checking this café and that restaurant, and what about that store…? She had wasted fifteen minutes banging at his door, but he wasn't there either. At last she found herself at Sakura's door.

"Sakura!" She was pounding crazily at the red door in front of her. She didn't even care if her parents were home and asleep––– who slept this early on a weekend anyways? "Sakura! _Sakura, open up_!"

"All right, I'm coming!" With relief Ino beheld the tired-looking face of her ex-best friend, rubbing her eyes. "What're you doing here, Ino? It thought you were with Sasuke-kun. Don't tell me you're here to request my chaperone services _again_…"

"Sakura…" It was then that the girl realized that the girl in the doorway was crying.

"Hey, Ino, are you okay?"

"Sakura, where's Naruto?"

"Naruto…?" She gave Ino a look that clearly questioned what she had been consuming that night and how much exactly she had consumed, but she felt enough compassion to say nothing.

"Yes! He said you two were on a date or something–––"

"Date?" Sakura tried not to laugh. "Me and Naruto?"

"That's what he told me. Something about going out?"

"Well, it's not true." She paused. "Wait, why are you looking for him if you were on a date with Sasuke? Doesn't that mean you rejected him?"

"Rejected?" Ino asked, looking confused. "No, he said he wanted to be friends again and I–––"

"And you just weren't thinking, flower girl," Sakura sighed, pretending to knock on Ino's head. "What did he give you?"

"Roses. Red roses," Ino replied. "And there were thirteen, so…"

"That idiot." Sakura shook her head. "Look, it's a long story but we ran into the 'Ino's Ex-Dates Club' on the way from your place, and since I'm kinda your best friend and Kiba's kinda Naruto's best friend we started talking and, well, next thing I knew I had this stupid plan for the poor guy. And just like I should've known he would, Naruto botched it."

"But I still don't get it," Ino pressed. Sakura took a breath.

"I told him to get you one red rose, or a dozen. Those were the only ones that came to mind. I guess he didn't understand and got both?" Ino's eyes widened suddenly. A dozen red roses meant "be mine," and one red rose…

"I still love you," Ino repeated from memory, her mouth agape. And she had stupidly thought it was about friendship!

"Sakura, I need to find him… I couldn't find him anywhere and I just don't know where to look anymore…"

"Okay, okay. Um…" Sakura seemed to be thinking hard, hugging her pajama-ed arms to herself. "Did you try Ichiraku?"

"What?"

"There's a ramen stand not far from here. I can't believe you've never seen it before. Then again, you don't really ea…" The pink-haired kunoichi sighed. "Look, that's the first place I would check, okay?"

"Sakura… Thank you…" Ino wiped her hand across her face, smearing her makeup further. Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled, hugging the girl.

"Don't mention it. Oh, and Ino?" She added as the blonde girl started to run off.

"Y…yeah?"

"Is…?" She hesitated. "Does that mean Sasuke's open?" Ino almost wanted to laugh.

"_May_be!" Ino called back. _Maybe_, thought Sakura with a half-grin. _Well, that's progress_…

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"Urgh! This is so _stupid_."

"Naruto-kun, at least _try_ to eat," Ayame, the daughter of the Ichiraku owner, implored.

"I told you, I don't want any," he sighed, pushing away the bowl.

"But you _love_ our ramen!"

"And _she_ doesn't love _me_. So what else is new?" The girl behind the counter frowned, leaning over. He was the only customer that night, and although she felt sorry for him, it was getting late.

"Oh, cheer up, now. I'm sure Sakura-chan will change her mind?" The blonde boy looked up, almost wanting to laugh.

"It's not Sakura. It never felt this painful with Sakura." Ayame was shocked.

"Then… who could it be?" She began when suddenly a girl running towards them caught her eye.

"Welcome!" Ayame smiled, but she could see urgency on the girl's face.

"Excuse me, have you seen––– Naruto!"

"Ino?" Naruto looked up from where he had been sulking on his folded arms. "What're you….? I mean, what about your date with Sasuke?" He spoke this warily, as if reminding the girl, but Ino merely shook her head.

"I couldn't continue," she replied, out of breath from trying to run in heels. Naruto pulled out a stool for her and she sat down gratefully.

"What? His attitude get to you?" Naruto asked with a bitter smirk. Ino shook her head and frowned at his childishness. "Y'know, there's a trick to that–––"

"Naru_to_!" Ino exclaimed, which got his attention immediately. "I couldn't do it because I missed _you_!" She paused to regain her breath. "I wanted to be with you, okay?"

"What?"

"What?" Both of them looked up at Ayame, leaning curiously over the counter. She blushed and backed up. "Um… I mean, I'm gonna go… clean some dishes! Yup, yup!" Naruto turned back to Ino when she had left.

"But I thought you _loved_ him! I thought, y'know, Sasuke fanclub and stuff? What happened to that?" Ino was starting to feel a little frustrated.

"_You_ happened to that, stupid!" She cried. "That's why I couldn't! Because… because, well, I like _you_ now. I'm in _your_ fanclub." Naruto blinked.

"You're not tricking me, are you?"

"No!" Ino exclaimed, about to lose her patience, then she stopped. "Unless, of course, y'know… You still like Sakura or something…" Naruto's face broke out into a huge grin. Suddenly he was hugging her tightly, and her heartbeat must have spiked to some unhealthy degree because she was sure he could hear it, too.

"No," he laughed into her hair. "No, I like you, too. I still do." Ino sighed with relief.

"Okay, you two," Ayame sniffled, suddenly reappearing and causing Ino and Naruto to push each other away in embarrassment. "I'm loving every moment of this, but I've got a ramen shop to close, and it's really late as it is." The two blondes smiled apologetically.

"C'mon," Ino declared suddenly, tugging the boy's hand behind her as she ran into the night air.

"Wait, where are we going?" Naruto asked, confusion on his face. "I mean, everything's closed now…" Ino turned and smiled then, her evening gown fluttering around her in the moonlight, making her, in Naruto's mind, look like some kind of angel. He stopped breathing for a moment.

"What does it matter?" Ino asked with laugh. "As long as I'm with you?" She hesitated, then her grin widened. "My favorite flavor of ramen after all." It was a weird thing to say, but somehow Ino felt it was fitting to the end of this crazy dating adventure she had been put through. And as Naruto slipped his arms around the girl and kissed her softly, she could tell that, somehow, he understood exactly what she meant.

**Did you like the ending? You guys can't see, but I'm getting really emotional over here (this is the first fic I've finished on I hope everyone enjoyed this story as much as I did writing it. Sorry for all the drama in the end (it was very fluffy, wasn't it?), but I think it fit, don't you? I can't believe it's over! Thank you to all my reviewers, again! You encouraged me to continue and made me a stronger author! So saying, please review and let me know what you thought! Until we meet again! Labbess**


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